Jamey Carroll, Jayson Nix, Jeff Francoeur and Kevin Slowey recently signed minor league deals.
Slowey, a 29 year-old right-hander, signed with the Miami Marlins. He threw 92 innings for the Marlins in 2013, posting an ERA of 4.11 and an FIP of 3.81. For his career, he’s walked only 3.8 percent of hitters while striking out 17.7 percent.
With a fastball that sits at 89-90, and one of the lowest groundball rates of any starter in the majors, Slowey has had troubles with the longball, as shown by a career 1.4 HR/9. He’ll face stiff competition from a Marlins organization that features several high-upside young arms.
While his days of being a starter are probably over, the veteran is a solid defender at second or third, and has a career .292 average against lefties. If he makes the team, he can fill the utility role of Steve Lombardozzi, who was dealt to the Detroit Tigers in the Doug Fister trade. He’ll face competition from Mike Fontenot, who the Nationals also brought in on a minor league deal.
The 30 year-old Francoeur signed with the Cleveland Indians. He’s struggled mightily the last two seasons, hitting .226/.272/.354 for a 66 wRC+ and -2.9 fWAR. Despite his recent struggles, Francoeur, a fan favorite, was a solid regular in 2011, when he hit .285/.329/.476 for a 115 wRC+ and 2.5 fWAR.
With an Indians outfield that features left-handed bats in Michael Brantley, Michael Bourn, and David Murphy, Francoeur’s righthanded bat might come in handy. He owns a career .285/.335/.465 line against right-handed pitching.
Jayson Nix signed with the Tampa Bay Rays. The veteran utility man has played second, third, short, as well as left and right field. He doesn’t offer much with the bat, as he has a career slash line of .218/.290/.358 for a 72 wRC+. he is a solid baserunner who swiped 13 bags in 14 attempts in 2013. As a team, the Rays stole just 73 bases in 2013, with Desmond Jennings and Ben Zobrist being the only ones to reach double digits.
With Tim Beckham, who was the favorite to win the utility spot, likely being lost for most of the season with an ACL injury, Nix stands a good chance at making the team out of Spring Training.
None of these moves resemble big news, but solid depth and good bench pieces often set contending teams apart from their second-division counterparts.
