Here are some of the day's minor transactions…
- The Cubs have acquired minor league infielder Jeff Bianchi on a waiver claim, the team announced. Bianchi was designated for assignment by the Royals last week to make room for Jonathan Broxton on their 40-man roster. Bianchi was a second-round pick for K.C. in the 2005 draft and has yet to reach the majors, though he missed close to two full seasons recovering from a torn labrum (2006) and reconstuctive elbow surgery (2010).
- The Athletics have signed left-hander Erick Threets to a minor league deal, tweets Matthew Eddy of Baseball America. Threets, 30, last pitched in the Majors in 2010, throwing 12.1 scoreless relief innings for the White Sox.
- The Reds signed right-handers Luis Atilano and Sean Gallagher to minor league deals, reports Eddy.
- The Brewers have signed catcher Mike Rivera to a minor league contract, reports MLB.com's Adam McCalvy. The deal includes an invitation to the Brewers' big league spring training camp and is worth $500K if Rivera makes the Major League roster. Rivera, 35, has spent five of the last six years in the Brewers' organization and will provide the club with extra catching depth.
- The Rangers signed Alberto Gonzalez to a minor league contract with an invite to the Major League spring training camp, reports MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan. Gonzalez was released by the Padres last month. The utility infielder has a career .242/.281/.317 line in 908 Major League plate appearances over five seasons with the Padres, Nationals and Yankees.
- The Yankees have designated Colin Curtis for assignment, tweets MLB.com's Bryan Hoch. The move creates space on New York's 40-man roster for Freddy Garcia, whose signing was made official today. Curtis, a fourth-round draft pick in 2006, has 64 Major League plate appearances to his name.
Atilano is a good depth signing. He has a ceiling as a low #4, high #5 guy. He’s already had decent success at ML level. As a Nats fan I wish him much success against anyone but the Nats, lol.
I like the Atilano signing; kid was a 1st round pick for a reason, and he hasn’t had a lot of experience in the majors, so you might have something there. Remember Brandon Phillips was brought over in a “player to be named later” trade, so you never know. The Gallagher signing wasn’t a bad one either, he’ll be available for spot starts and possibly the occasional long relief when the bullpen is taxed. All in all, a good deal.
Good signing for the Rangers. As a Padres fan I wasn’t pleased to see Alberto go. Good utility man and could come through in the clutch when needed. I hope he has a great season
The former Nationals player seems like it could be something interesting for the Reds. Not a big fan of Gallagher but mop up guy , extra innings guy , long reliever maybe??
Cashman at the pool , drinking a rum and cokes this week ???
Gonzalez is cheap