Rays' Nick Franklin Works as Uber Driver During Offseasons

Even though his $507,500 2016 salary is paltry by MLB standards, Tampa Bay Rays infielder Nick Franklin didn't necessarily need extra income. Yet he spent a few days during the offseason making side cash as an Uber driver.

According to the Tampa Bay Times' Marc Tompkin, Franklin is an experienced driver who has netted strong customer reviews:

As Franklin told Topkin in October, he does it more out of boredom than a desire for extra pocket change.

"I wanted to do something on the weekends because I never really do anything,'' Franklin said.

Although the once promising prospect has fallen short of the hype, the 25-year-old showed signs of a late breakout last year. In 191 major league plate appearances, per Baseball-Reference.com, he batted .270/.328/.443 with a career-high 111 OPS+, a metric graded on a scale in which 100 represents average offensive production.

As a result of Tampa Bay's trade of Logan Forsythe to the Los Angeles Dodgers, Franklin has an opportunity to earn more playing time as the starting second baseman. If he does so and carries last year's gains through 2017, he'll receive a sizable raise in arbitration.

But since he's "just doing it for fun," as he said to Topkin, perhaps he'll keep driving as a millionaire next winter.

[Marc Topkin, h/t Business Insider]