I agree with your analysis for the most part. I actually don't have much of an issue with the signature itself as I have seen (and have) earlier Chuck Knoblauch signatures which I believe to be authentic which are more written out (kind of like Puckett's signature). And Knoblauch's signature seems to be an enigma anyway, I have middle career ones that look like the one you pictured, and then more recent Steiner signatures of his that look like they're signed by someone 40 years older (almost look fake because of the slowness/shakiness). I know he's not the healthiest looking guy these days but he shouldn't be signing like Hank Aaron at this point in his life.
The inscription, as you said, seems unlikely to be him; it's hard to imagine any athlete writing that out 500 times. While my initial instinct then is "Who would be stupid enough to add their own inscription to a bat autographed by an athlete?", I again come back to the potentiality that this was some corporate thing organized by someone who had no idea what they were doing and foolishly thought that would be a nice addition to the bat.
Overall, I've wasted enough money on things over the years that I'm comfortable at the price for the potential that it's real, simply because there really aren't great options out there for Knoblauch bats. If/when I do find a better option, I'll grab it.
Thanks again for your feedback!
P.S. I did message him on Twitter on the off chance that he would address the question; nothing so far though
