Here’s the release from the Boston Red Sox announcing the signings of two minor league free agents, 1B Mauro Gomez and RHP Ross Ohlendorf to minor league deals. Both received non-roster invites to spring training. Also the club announced their complete list of non-roster invitees.
BOSTON, MA—The Boston Red Sox today announced the signings of free agents first baseman Mauro Gomez and right-handed pitcher Ross Ohlendorf to 2012 minor league contracts with invites to Boston’s Major League Spring Training camp as non-roster players. Both have been placed on the Triple-A Pawtucket roster.
The club also announced that 24 players overall will attend the team’s Major League Spring Training camp as non-roster invitees.
The announcements were made by Executive Vice President/General Manager Ben Cherington.
Gomez, 27, played the entire 2011 season with Atlanta’s Triple-A Gwinnett affiliate and led the International League with 264 total bases, batting .304 (154-for-506) with 34 doubles, two triples, 24 home runs and 90 RBI in a career-high 135 games. He also placed among circuit leaders in batting average (10th), hits (2nd), doubles (5th), home runs (T-3rd), RBI (4th), slugging percentage (4th, .522), extra-base hits (2nd, 60) and runs scored (4th, 76). A native of the Dominican Republic, Gomez signed with Texas as a non-drafted free agent in 2003 and has hit .274 (806-for-2,940) with 192 doubles, 11 triples, 108 homers and 468 RBI in 775 games over nine minor league seasons in the Rangers (2003-09) and Braves (2010-11) organizations. This offseason, the right-handed batter played 40 games with Toros del Este and Leones Escogido of the Dominican Winter League, placing third in the league with 23 walks, and hit .317 (32-for-101) with six homers and 23 RBI in 27 playoff games for Escogido.
Ohlendorf, 29, started nine games for the Pirates in 2011 but spent the majority of the season on the disabled list. He also combined for a 1-1 record with a 3.65 ERA (15 ER/37.0 IP) in seven minor league starts, including six rehab outings, and posted a 3.33 ERA (9 ER/24.1 IP) in four starts with Triple-A Indianapolis overall. Over the previous two seasons from 2009-10, he led Pittsburgh starters with a 3.98 ERA (126 ER/285.0 IP). Selected by the Diamondbacks in the fourth round of the 2004 First-Year Player Draft out of Princeton University, Ohlendorf has gone 14-28 with a 4.77 ERA (208 ER/392.2 IP) and 273 strikeouts in 95 appearances (64 starts) over parts of five Major League seasons with the Yankees (2007-08) and Pirates (2008-11).
The complete list of non-roster invitees includes left-handed pitchers Jesse Carlson, Rich Hill and Justin Thomas; right-handers Scott Atchison, Aaron Cook, Brandon Duckworth, Justin Germano, Will Inman, Doug Mathis, Ross Ohlendorf, Vicente Padilla, Tony Pena Jr., Carlos Silva, Chorye Spoone and Alex Wilson; catchers Daniel Butler and Max St. Pierre; outfielders Alex Hassan, Josh Kroeger, Juan Carlos Linares and Jason Repko; and infielders Pedro Ciriaco, Mauro Gomez and Nate Spears.
Seventeen of the 24 invitees have Major League experience, including Atchison, Carlson, Ciriaco, Cook, Duckworth, Germano, Hill, Kroeger, Mathis, Ohlendorf, Padilla, Pena, Repko, Silva, Spears, St. Pierre and Thomas. Atchison, Hill and Spears all saw action for the Red Sox in 2011.
Pitchers and catchers will participate in their first on-field workout at the Fenway South Player Development Complex in Lee County on Tuesday, February 21. The first full squad workout of the Red Sox Spring Training camp is on Saturday, February 25.
Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.
