We have almost 20 moves that have occurred over the past few days, so here we go! Beginning with a few miscellaneous depth signings, the Diamondbacks signed C Matt Pagnozzi to take the place of Bobby Wilson as 3rd catcher and SS Walter Ibarra who will likely play in AAA. Rays signed rookie league righty Eduar Quinonez to a minor league deal. He makes for a solid low minors depth add. They also added LHP Jordan Norberto. The 28 year old was part of the bio-genesis scandal back in early 2013 and is making a comeback this season. This is an interesting, under-the-radar comeback story to keep an eye on. The Dodgers signed 22 year old rookie leaguer Yeuri Gonzalez to a minor league pact. He has excellent command, but doesnt have high strikeout numbers. Kansas City brought back lefty Noel Arguelles, a former top international prospect who struggled mightily this season at AA. Kansas City will try to get what they can out of the once promising prospect. Washington brought in Reliever Manny Delcarmen as an interesting spring training invite who has a very legitimate chance of cracking the roster, and shortstop Emmanuel Burris. I just to love this guy back when he was in Cincy, however, nowadays he is just a depth piece. The Pirates acquired Righty Rob Scahill from Colorado today for fellow righty Shane Carle and signed righty starter Jair Jurrjens to a minor league contract with an invite to spring training. Jurrjens was up and coming ace less than 5 years ago, but has struggled to remain healthy and has bounced around from Baltimore to Detroit to Cincinnati and now Colorado. He pitched a bit last year and put up rough results. The former Braves ace will once again attempt to get his career back on track on a minor league deal. Speaking of the Braves, they have been quite active on the minor league free agent market. On friday, as was reported, they signed C Eli Whiteside, and Righty Sugar Ray Marimon, well, over the past few days they have signed the following players: Lefty Greg Smith, who spent the last two seasons in Lehigh Valley (Phillies AAA system), Lefty Donnie Veal, who spent the last few years in the White Sox bullpen and is going to be 30 years old and Chein Ming Wang, another very interesting non-roster invitee. Wang was a Cy-Young Nominee years ago with the Yankees and has a very good chance of making the roster out of spring training. Finally, they also brought in Outfielder Zoilo Almonte on a major league deal. He will hold a bench spot. This is one of the shrewdest moves of the offseason thus far. He is a 25 year old kid with immense power, a solid corner outfield glove and the ability to hit about .260-.270. My only concern with him is his lack of walks, however, that can be overlooked every once in a while. Zoilo is an outstanding move! Today, St. Louis brought in a few minor league free agents. Infielder Dean Anna, who split time between the Daddy Yankees, Pirates and their respective AAA teams, was signed to a one year major league contract. I do not understand this move due to the fact that he struggled at every level last season, however he does provide extensive versatility. It is expected that he will hold a bench job for opening day. They also re-signed 30 year old third baseman Scott Moore in a depth move, and signed righties Miguel Socolovich and Marcus Hatley to minor league deals. Socolovich, 28, has spent the past two seasons in AAA, but has posted excellent numbers and peripherals including a gaudy 68/19 K:BB ratio. This is a decent depth signing for the Red Birds and he has a chance to break camp with the team. Marcus Hatley, 26, struggled last season with the Cubs AAA team, hes strictly depth. Finally, The Mets made the first big signing of the offseason yesterday when they signed 1B/OF Michael Cuddyer to a 2-year contract worth $21,000,000. They will look something like this next season (barring a shortstop pick-up): CF Juan Lagares, 2B Daniel Murphy, 3B David Wright, RF Curtis Granderson, LF Michael Cuddyer, 1B Lucas Duda, C Travis DArnaud, 2B Dilson Herrera and SS Wilmer Flores. From 1-6, it could be a playoff line-up with the young pitching staff, they just need to fill shortstop desperately if they want to compete with Washington. They also signed OF Alex Castellanos, a former dodgers top prospect, who will likely just act as organizational depth. The players pictured are: Michael Cuddyer Zoilo Almonte Dean Anna Chein Ming Wang Jair Jurrjens Jordan Norberto Alex Castellanos Noel Arguelles
Posted on: Wed, 12 Nov 2014 02:21:20 +0000
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