FEBRUARY 13: With the Rockies already at full capacity for non-roster Spring Training invitees, Sampson will not receive an invite, Goff writes. Instead, the reliever will be reporting to minor league camp in Arizona.
Sampson told Goff that the Rockies intend to give him every opportunity to succeed at the Triple-A level and will likely be in position for a potential call-up if he stays healthy. The deal will become official upon Sampson passing a physical exam.
FEBRUARY 9: The Rockies have agreed to a minor league deal with right-handed reliever Chris Sampson, according to Stephen Goff of Examiner.com. The pact includes an invite to Spring Training.
Sampson, 32, spent his entire career with the Astros up until now. After turning in a 5.93 ERA with 4.7 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 on the season, Houston removed Sampson from the 40-man roster. The reliever chose to accept his demotion to the minors and delay his entrance to the open market.
In five big league seasons with Houston, Sampson owns a 4.42 ERA with 4.4 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9. The Texas native is represented by Hendricks Sports.
The guy would have been lights out, had he never cut his hair…
Poor man’s Chien-Ming Wang. He kind of got screwed last season (overworked early, injured, came back too early, got sent down), but he was nails when it mattered. Good luck, Sam!
I wanna talk to Sampson, fly me to the moon….
CALL SAMPSONNN
Good for him. Great guy and a solid groundball pitcher.
As long as he doesn’t cut his hair, he’ll be fine.
There’s a limit for non-roster invitees?