The Rays today signed first baseman Casey Kotchman to a minor league deal for $750 thousand. Kotchman, who played with the Mariners last year, is a career .259 hitter that hit 6 home runs in 96 games last year. He is considered an good defensive first baseman.
As a left-handed bat, it is hard to imagine the Rays have room on the roster for both Kotchman and Dan Johnson. The Rays are paying Johnson $1 million for the 2011 season.
The Rays also picked up Rob Delaney, a right-handed relief pitcher, who was placed on waivers last week by the Twins. Delaney, 26, struck out 10.35 batters per 9 innings in triple-A last year, with an excellent 4.0 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Delaney will be added to the 40-man roster, taking the final available spot. That means the Rays now need to move two players off the 40-man roster before making the Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez signings official.
7 Comments
Seems like Nevin Ashley or Jose Lobaton would be expendable from the 40 man at this point with the arrival of Chirinos and O’Conner as a top 10 prospect. The thing I’m curious to see is if Leslie Anderson sticks around – Kotchman seems like he’d block Anderson, and with Damon & Zorilla also available to play first base, what purpose does he serve anymore?
I guess Kotchman could be a back up plan if Dan doesn’t pan out. Only thing I can think of.
MORE good news for Durham….
Bleh
Reliever may have a little upside, Kotchman is just a glove and now we have a full 40 man which does not include Manny and Damon. That plus the very weird long time it’s taking to announce the signings make me think/hope a trade is coming
I agree with you Joe. We must be looking to make a deal for a closer…maybe Soria? Otherwise, we would’ve dropped lobaton and another non-factor. Kotchman adds depth and experience to the organization. He also is a great glove. It’s a low risk/high reward potential signing.
Delaney seems worth giving a shot to for this year’s pen. He’s had very good minor league numbers, and just hasn’t gotten a chance in the bigs yet.
Seminole high kid.