Around the Majors: Twins sign Sierra
1) The Twins signed DH Ruben Sierra, OF Tim Raines Jr. and Ps Ryan Glynn and Peter Munro to minor league contracts, with invitations to spring training.
SIERRA YEAR AGE RCAA OBA SLG OPS OWP RC/G AVG HR RBI SB G TEAM 2003 37 -4 .327 .420 .748 .459 4.69 .270 9 43 2 106 Rangers/Yankees 2004 38 -4 .296 .456 .752 .461 4.56 .244 17 65 1 107 Yankees 2005 39 -9 .265 .371 .636 .306 3.20 .229 4 29 0 61 Yankees CAR 23 .316 .450 .766 .504 4.82 .268 306 1318 142 2172 LG AVG 0 .334 .412 .746 .500 4.80 .265 228 1034 155 POS AVG 86 .338 .442 .780 .528 5.19 .266 301 1192 135
Sierra has only had a positive RCAA once in the past decade and ranks 8th for most career PA by a player with an OBA at least .015 below the league average–
PLATE APPEARANCES PA OBA RCAA 1 Rabbit Maranville 11256 -.022 -280 2 Luis Aparicio 11230 -.017 -180 3 Willie Davis 9822 -.016 113 4 Gary Gaetti 9817 -.025 -126 5 Joe Carter 9154 -.028 28 6 Larry Bowa 9103 -.032 -307 7 Marquis Grissom 8959 -.021 -91 8 Ruben Sierra 8749 -.019 23 9 Frank White 8467 -.035 -176 10 Bill Mazeroski 8379 -.028 -190 RAINES YEAR AGE RCAA OBA SLG OPS OWP RC/G AVG HR RBI SB G TEAM 2001 21 -1 .269 .261 .530 .263 2.70 .174 0 0 3 7 Orioles 2003 23 -6 .196 .209 .405 .029 0.69 .140 0 2 0 20 Orioles 2004 24 -6 .293 .319 .612 .275 3.16 .255 0 5 7 48 Orioles CAR -13 .263 .281 .544 .198 2.38 .213 0 7 10 75 LG AVG 0 .337 .432 .768 .500 5.10 .269 6 24 3 POS AVG 0 .338 .427 .765 .503 5.13 .276 5 22 6 GLYNN YEAR AGE RSAA ERA G GS IP SO SO/9 BR/9 W L SV NW NL TEAM 2001 26 -13 7.04 12 9 46 15 2.93 16.63 1 5 0 2 4 Rangers 2004 29 2 4.05 6 2 20 14 6.30 13.50 1 0 0 1 0 Blue Jays 2005 30 -5 6.88 5 3 17 15 7.94 16.41 0 4 0 1 3 A's CAREER -33 6.24 52 40 226.1 116 4.61 16.06 9 20 0 12 17 LG AVG 0 4.75 226.1 159 6.31 13.43 13 13 MUNRO YEAR AGE RSAA ERA G GS IP SO SO/9 BR/9 W L SV NW NL TEAM 2002 27 7 3.57 19 14 80.2 45 5.02 12.83 5 5 0 6 4 Astros 2003 28 -1 4.67 40 2 54 27 4.50 15.67 3 4 0 3 4 Astros 2004 29 -9 5.15 21 19 99.2 63 5.69 14.09 4 7 0 5 6 Astros CAREER -13 4.88 120 40 315.1 189 5.39 14.76 13 19 0 16 16 LG AVG 0 4.41 315.1 231 6.60 13.02 18 18
2) The Dodgers signed INF Ramon Martinez and P Kurt Ainsworth to minor league contracts, with invitations to spring training.
MARTINEZ YEAR AGE RCAA OBA SLG OPS OWP RC/G AVG HR RBI SB G TEAM 2003 30 -8 .333 .375 .709 .411 4.17 .283 3 34 0 108 Cubs 2004 31 -15 .313 .346 .659 .321 3.69 .246 3 30 1 102 Cubs 2005 32 -5 .309 .330 .639 .339 3.56 .277 1 14 0 52 Tigers/Phillies CAR -36 .329 .383 .712 .425 4.30 .269 27 184 8 630 LG AVG 0 .342 .436 .778 .500 5.26 .270 55 220 29 POS AVG -23 .333 .411 .744 .453 4.78 .269 40 191 30 AINSWORTH YEAR AGE RSAA ERA G GS IP SO SO/9 BR/9 W L SV NW NL TEAM 2002 23 5 2.10 6 4 25.2 15 5.26 12.27 1 2 0 2 1 Giants 2003 24 1 4.08 14 11 68.1 52 6.85 13.17 5 5 0 5 5 Giants/Orioles 2004 25 -17 9.68 7 7 30.2 20 5.87 18.78 0 1 0 0 1 Orioles CAREER -13 5.19 29 22 126.2 90 6.39 14.57 6 8 0 7 7 LG AVG 0 4.34 126.2 93 6.62 12.86 7 7
3) The Reds signed free agent P Rick White to a 1 year, $600,000 contract.
YEAR AGE RSAA ERA G GS IP SO SO/9 BR/9 W L SV NW NL TEAM 2003 34 -9 5.78 49 0 67 54 7.25 13.30 1 2 1 1 2 White Sox/Astros 2004 35 -6 5.29 59 0 78.1 44 5.06 13.67 5 5 1 4 6 Indians 2005 36 5 3.72 71 0 75 40 4.80 14.76 4 7 2 6 5 Pirates CAREER 26 4.24 520 18 759.1 484 5.74 12.95 37 52 15 49 40 LG AVG 0 4.50 759.1 547 6.48 13.08 43 43
4) The Devil Rays signed 3B Russell Branyan to a minor league contract, with an invitation to spring training.
YEAR AGE RCAA OBA SLG OPS OWP RC/G AVG HR RBI SB G TEAM 2003 27 -1 .322 .438 .759 .489 5.01 .216 9 26 0 74 Reds 2004 28 3 .324 .525 .849 .557 6.10 .234 11 27 1 51 Brewers 2005 29 9 .378 .490 .868 .623 6.66 .257 12 31 1 85 Brewers CAR 13 .327 .480 .807 .525 5.56 .232 93 238 7 536 LG AVG 0 .339 .431 .770 .500 5.13 .269 48 200 26 POS AVG 6 .341 .442 .783 .510 5.30 .268 54 216 18
5) Today’s birthdays–
PAUL BLAIR, AGE: 62 YEAR AGE RCAA OBA SLG OPS OWP RC/G AVG HR RBI SB G TEAM 1975 31 -20 .257 .300 .557 .289 2.32 .218 5 31 17 140 Orioles 1976 32 -25 .245 .264 .509 .195 1.77 .197 3 16 15 145 Orioles 1979 35 -15 .209 .234 .443 .109 1.44 .152 2 15 0 77 Yankees/Reds CAR -40 .302 .382 .684 .468 3.82 .250 134 620 171 1947 LG AVG 0 .323 .376 .699 .500 4.16 .254 144 692 104 POS AVG 37 .326 .389 .715 .515 4.37 .263 138 650 186 HECTOR LUNA, AGE: 26 YEAR AGE RCAA OBA SLG OPS OWP RC/G AVG HR RBI SB G TEAM 2004 24 -6 .304 .364 .668 .380 3.88 .249 3 22 6 83 Cardinals 2005 25 0 .344 .409 .753 .491 5.05 .285 1 18 10 64 Cardinals CAR -6 .322 .384 .706 .431 4.39 .265 4 40 16 147 LG AVG 0 .340 .433 .773 .500 5.18 .269 10 42 5 POS AVG -6 .327 .398 .725 .442 4.57 .269 6 33 7 KENT MERCKER, AGE: 38 YEAR AGE RSAA ERA G GS IP SO SO/9 BR/9 W L SV NW NL TEAM 2003 35 14 1.95 67 0 55.1 48 7.81 12.69 0 2 1 1 1 Reds/Braves 2004 36 12 2.55 71 0 53 51 8.66 11.72 3 1 0 3 1 Cubs 2005 37 6 3.65 78 0 61.2 45 6.57 12.55 3 1 4 2 2 Reds CAREER 29 4.17 641 150 1283.1 894 6.27 13.23 72 66 24 74 64 LG AVG 0 4.23 1283.1 923 6.47 12.77 72 72 CARL REYNOLDS, 1903-78 YEAR AGE RCAA OBA SLG OPS OWP RC/G AVG HR RBI SB G TEAM 1928 25 15 .371 .491 .862 .638 7.07 .323 2 36 15 84 White Sox 1930 27 42 .388 .584 .973 .674 8.90 .359 22 104 16 138 White Sox CAR 31 .346 .458 .804 .520 5.82 .302 80 699 112 1222 LG AVG 0 .355 .414 .770 .500 5.45 .287 69 609 60 POS AVG 47 .361 .436 .797 .531 5.87 .296 80 635 72 BILLY SULLIVAN, 1875-1965 YEAR AGE RCAA OBA SLG OPS OWP RC/G AVG HR RBI SB G TEAM 1901 26 -21 .271 .351 .623 .323 3.59 .245 4 56 12 98 White Sox 1907 32 -24 .229 .221 .450 .195 1.79 .174 0 36 6 112 White Sox 1909 34 -21 .226 .174 .400 .151 1.43 .162 0 16 9 97 White Sox CAR -198 .254 .280 .534 .290 2.62 .212 21 378 98 1146 LG AVG 0 .321 .342 .663 .500 4.48 .263 17 408 154 POS AVG -149 .285 .293 .579 .356 3.20 .233 9 364 69 CECILIO GUANTE, AGE: 46 YEAR AGE RSAA ERA G GS IP SO SO/9 BR/9 W L SV NW NL TEAM 1985 25 13 2.72 63 0 109 92 7.60 10.65 4 6 5 6 4 Pirates CAREER 24 3.48 363 1 595 503 7.61 11.72 29 34 35 34 29 LG AVG 0 3.80 595 371 5.62 12.23 33 33
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