CLEARWATER, Fla. — Nick Williams, dressed in a hooded sweatshirt and ripped jeans, stepped into the Phillies clubhouse Friday morning with a folded piece of paper in his hand. He had an announcement.
"I got released," Williams said.
The outfield prospect smiled. The Phillies, two weeks from departing Florida, demoted the future to minor-league camp. Williams packed his locker at Spectrum Field. So did J.P. Crawford and Jorge Alfaro.
They were upset; the luxuries of spacious lockers and a per diem at big-league camp had ceased. But all three knew this would happen, and they departed with a sense that they belonged.