As a project manager for a construction company in Ohio, professional satisfaction for Eric Arnett is fulfilled through matching the expectations of clients who want to see the creation of a concept. 

“You have to deliver,” Arnett said. “Whether it’s a warehouse of a Fortune 500 company or if it’s a restaurant for a one-time, first-time owner doing a startup business, it’s their livelihood that’s on the line so you can’t let them down.”

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Oddly, maybe a firsthand understanding of potential and disappointment in a previous career helps.

As a professional baseball player, Arnett failed.

He recognizes that belief and agrees with the label of “bust” forever attached to his baseball career with equal swiftness. With his 6-foot-5. 230-pound frame and powerful fastball, Arnett never became the next Jonathan Papelbon. The Brewers drafted him during the first round of the 2009 MLB June Amateur Draft, one selection after Mike Trout, the sport’s best player, and it’s hard to imagine another context with a greater distance between the numbers 25 and 26. 

Arnett never advanced beyond High-Class A.

“I kind of feel bad that I let them down,” Arnett said. “Because I know I did not live up to expectations. And I guess that’s the hardest thing to swallow — knowing that you failed at something.”

Stories of unfilled talent are ubiquitous in sports. Sometimes, the tales take darker turns after the final game. Arnett is aware of them. Arnett’s story, he said, is different. And for that, he says he is fortunate. He failed at something. Not everything.  

Arnett’s baseball career ended unceremoniously, forgettably in March 2014. Then-assistant general manager Gord Ash told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, “Simply put, the organizational depth of pitching has improved and Eric has not gotten to the next level and has been surpassed. We were prepared to continue working with him but he chose to move on.”

Arnett could’ve stayed with the Brewers, possibly spending another season in the Arizona Fall League. But he had already been there and done that. Twice. It’s no place for a 25-year-old former first-round pick. 

Even now, it’s hard for Arnett to pinpoint exactly what stymied his growth as a pitcher and contributed to a 5.18 ERA over five minor-league seasons. The strikeout numbers were fine most seasons and the walks were at a tolerable amount. But something about him was different than the junior who went 12-2 with a 2.50 ERA and .212 opponent average at Indiana. Perhaps, he said, the motivation was lacking and the humbleness was dissipating. Negative results didn’t change things for the better.

“It had to be a mental thing that truly affected everything in the end,” Arnett said. “Stuff starts getting in your head, and you start reading articles on you and seeing people’s comments of, ‘bust,’ and stuff like that. It all goes down from there once you start letting that get into your head.”

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Arnett joined J.M. Gold, Nick Neugebauer, Mark Rogers and Mike Jones on an embarrassingly long list of failed first-round pitching prospects for the Brewers. None of the others have the added plight of being chosen just after Trout, though.

“I’ve heard that once or twice,” Arnett said with a laugh. “But, hey, Mike never did anything to me. I don’t look back, sit there and curse everything and say, ‘I should be doing this,’ or ‘That should be me.’ Because, ultimately, I was in control of all of it. As far as holding a grudge against myself, I don’t do anything like that. 

“You look back and can say, damn, life would have been a little different. But it helps that life is still good now or has been good now. Maybe if I was doing something else, I wouldn’t have that same perspective, but with what I am doing now, I am happy and it’s something that gives you a little bit of what baseball had to offer. Your goals for baseball are the same with any company in that it’s all relative.”

When Arnett was released, he initially thought he would sign elsewhere, try once more with a different team. But his first child was born later that summer, and, as he put it, his goals, dreams and interests changed because of his new responsibilities. 

He first landed a job in sales, selling new construction equipment, and eventually met Keith Coleman, CEO of Brocon Construction, the company Arnett now works for.

Now, Arnett is a 32-year-old father of three: Peyton (5), Cole (3), Hailey (2). His wife Chelsie unexpectedly died in November. That’s a tragedy — a failed baseball career isn’t. 

Professionally, he has learned he can find enjoyment with something different with the right motivation and drive. Publicly, those who have worked with him have endorsed him for his leadership and communication skills. He has worked at Brocon since 2017. 

It’s only in the baseball world where he’ll forever be known as a bust. And that’s OK. He can deal with that.

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“Everyone that says that is right; I would agree to it and if I could go back or strap everything back up and go out there and play again, I would try to prove them wrong,” Arnett said. “It’s a very short stint of your life in the grand scheme of things. You can’t let that … it’s just going to affect everything else in a negative way if you let it go like that. 

“You keep it in the back of your mind so you don’t forget that feeling. You keep it there so that it’s a reminder. But you can’t let it impact the rest of your life or anything else that you do.”

At that, at what matters most, Arnett appears to be succeeding.

(Top photo of Arnett: Ralph Freso / Associated Press)