Here are the day’s minor signings from around the league…
- Infielder Steve Tolleson is headed to the Orioles on a minor league deal, Eduardo Encina of the Baltimore Sun reports on Twitter. Tolleson will receive an invitation to major league camp. The 32-year-old owns a .245/.299/.372 slash in 363 career plate appearances in the bigs.
- Shortstop Hak-Ju Lee is joining the Giants on a minor league deal, Matt Eddy reported as part of a slew of signings. (See his Twitter feed for these and more.) Formerly a top prospect with the Rays, the 25-year-old suffered a serious knee injury and has not hit much since at the Triple-A level. Among other deals, San Francisco also brought back lefty Ricky Romero, per Eddy.
- The Diamondbacks have added righty Kyle Drabek on a minors deal, according to Eddy. He joins outfielder Kyle Jensen and third baseman Carlos Rivero as Arizona minor league free agent signees. Once one of the game’s best-regarded pitching prospects with the Blue Jays, the 27-year-old Drabek did not live up to his promise in Toronto. But he did toss a solid 137 1/3 innings last year at Triple-A for the White Sox, working to a 3.47 ERA with 5.5 K/9 against 3.5 BB/9.
- The White Sox have signed righty Phillippe Aumont to a minor league pact, Josh Norris of Baseball America tweets. The former Phillies prospect lost his 40-man roster spot last year. He did put up a 3.14 ERA after moving back into the rotation at Triple-A, but continued to demonstrate serious control problems with 6.8 BB/9.
Earlier Transactions
- The Blue Jays have signed first baseman Casey Kotchman, second baseman David Adams and shortstop Jiovanni Mier to minor league contract with invitations to Major League Spring Training, writes Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. The 32-year-old Kotchman comes with far and away the most big league experience, having served as an everyday first baseman (or close to it) with the Angels, Braves, Red Sox, Mariners, Rays and Indians from 2007-12. However, Kotchman hasn’t appeared in the Majors since 2013 and hasn’t experienced much in the way of success since his career year with the 2011 Rays. He’s a lifetime .260/.326/.385 hitter in the Majors. Adams, meanwhile, was once a promising second base prospect with the Yankees but never received a consistent chance in the Majors (in part, due to injuries). The now-28-year-old did receive 152 PAs in New York in 2013 but batted just .193/.252/.286 in that short stint. Mier, meanwhile, is a former first-round pick and top 100 prospect, but his bat has never really come around. He’s now 25 years of age and is a career .239/.333/.340 hitter in the minors.
Kotchman 07 and 11 season and Johnson 13 season and countless others makes you realize how random baseball is and how many variables are involved. I think Kotchman would be a nice bench piece if he could add LF into his abilities.
I don’t think he ever even played the outfield in the minors. Would be a leap, but considering his defensive abilities (or once were?) he may be able to adapt for appearances here and there.
I saw him in the minors often and don’t believe he played the OF. He’s athletic enough to be decent at it.
Would love to see Casey K. make a come back
Johnson who?
bummer, i was hoping the pirates would pick up Kotchman as a depth option.
Glad to see Kotchman in the running for a position, if at most, a bench spot.
I like the kotchman signing because of what Toronto was able to do with Colabello last year, hope he gets one more shot at the bigs
Ricky Romero is a left handed pitcher.
Angels trading kotchman for Mark Teixeira even for a postseason rental best thing ever= Mike Trout
Interesting coincidence. Aumont, the key in a Cliff Lee trade, and Drabeck, key to a Roy Halladay deal. Both washouts. Both first rounds picks.. Tells you something about prospects…
Or the Phils scouting system… lol
Aumont came up in the Mariners organization, not the Phils. It is a funny coincidence though.