The Rays signed three players to minor league contracts on Thursday: 28 year-old utility infielder Will Rhymes, 32 year-old outfielder Jesus Feliciano, and 27 year old RHP Romulo Sanchez. In addition, they also re-signed RHP Matt Torra, who spent the second half of the 2011 season in AAA Durham, to a minor league contract. All four are to receive invitations to major-league camp.
Rhymes spent the last two seasons in the Tigers organization where he hit .283 in 83 games. He was surprisingly non-tendered by the Tigers in 2011. You may also recall the name Jesus Feliciano. Feliciano was picked up as a free-agent in 2003 by the (then Devil) Rays. He’s spent the majority of his professional career in the Mets organization, with most of his experience coming at the minor league level.
Sanchez, 1-0 with a 4.04 ERA in 35.2 innings, relies mostly on his mid 90’s fastball, change-up, and slider, and is by all counts a pitch to contact type of pitcher. See Sanchez’s Contact vs. Whiffs pitch F/X below. Sanchez could be another decent arm in the pen that would be brought in, in key situations or used in specific matchups. Finally, Matt Torra went 5-1 with a 3.67 ERA in 11 games last season with AAA Durham. In those appearances Torra gave up 25 earned runs, struck out 31, and had an impressive 1.8 walks per nine innings ratio.
