Souza, a 25-year-old coming off of an International League most valuable player award and who is now trying to make the Tampa Bay Rays' opening day roster, began his professional baseball career in 2007 when he was drafted in the third round of the MLB first-year player draft by the Washington Nationals.
Being what they call a "bonus baby," a minor league player with a healthy signing bonus, Souza seemingly cared more about living the flashy lifestyle of a professional baseball player rather than focusing on improving his game so that one day he could actually be called up to the major leagues.
Souza, who received a $350,000 signing bonus upon signing with the Nationals, loved going out on the town, partying and drinking and cared more about getting with women than he did about winning any baseball game.
"I was living the life you see on TV," Souza told The Tampa Bay Times. "Everyone's got big cars, money, alcohol, women all around them… Everyone is looking at this guy because he's got all this and that's what I wanted to be."
Even though Souza admits that he was cocky and arrogant in his younger minor league days, he failed to hit for a respectable batting average and make it any higher than A-ball in his first four seasons in the minor leagues.
Souza, who was diagnosed with ADHD as a kid and was medicated for it up until high school, said he remembered the benefits of taking attention-deficit pills.
Although pills of that nature are banned under the MLB's strict substance abuse policy, Souza struggled at the plate during the 2010 season with the Hagerstown Suns and decided to risk failing a drug test because he was more worried about the "here and now" and how those pills could help him play the game better.
On two consecutive days during the 2010 season, Souza admitted to taking the ADHD pill Concerta. On the third day, a collector for the league's random drug testing came into the clubhouse to collect urine samples from the team's players. Souza failed the test and was suspended for 50 games for violating the policy.
Although Souza embarrassingly faced a suspension for what many might consider "cheating," Souza confessed that he did not learn from his suspension and didn't even seem to care because his thumb was broken and he wasn't going to play any way.
"I still didn't do the right things," Souza said. "I was in a bad place trying to fill the void because I didn't have baseball— a lot of going out, a lot of drinking, a lot of working out."
After putting on 30 pounds of muscle during his time off, Souza had an excellent instructional league season in the fall and was promoted to the Single-A Potomac for the 2011 season.
Although Souza got off to a good start in the 2011 season, his attitude did not change and it rubbed the team's manager, former big-leaguer Matthew LeCroy, the wrong way and the two later got into a heated confrontation that ended Souza's postseason prematurely.
"My manager and I didn't get along," Souza explained. "I was a hothead, especially when I was doing well, leading the league in RBIs. It was a 'This is my team, get out of my way' type of thing."
However, Souza's attitude began shifting after he discovered that his then-girlfriend cheated on him with one of his teammates, who he considered a close friend. The incident caused Souza to go into a stark depression.
"It just seemed the whole world came crashing down at that point," Souza explained.
Souza, who walked out on his team and considered quitting baseball altogether during the 2011 offseason, used his time off to reflect on the direction his life was going.
"I was at a crossroads," Souza said. "It was like, I need to make adjustments in my life right now. Nobody wants to be around me. People don't respect me."
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