Padres News: Padres sign pitchers McNutt and Rosin to minor league contracts
According to Matt Eddy of Baseball America, the San Diego Padres have signed two pitchers to minor league contracts and have invited them to spring training to compete for a roster spot.
Right handed pitchers Seth Rosin and Trey McNutt were signed as each provides the team with organizational depth in the upper minor league level.
The two big right handers have brief major league experience but will need an outstanding spring to make the Padres 25-man roster. The team is clearly bringing in a ton of arms in order to strengthen the bullpen which could be an issue this upcoming season.
Seth Rosin is 6′ 6″ and was the San Francisco Giants fourth round pick in the 2010 draft out of the University of Minnesota. He was a major part of the deal which sent Rosin, Nate Schierholtz and Tommy Joseph to the Philadelphia Phillies for Hunter Pence in July of 2012. The Giants made out on that deal.
After the 2012 season Rosin was passed around by a few teams. He was selected in the 2013 rule-five draft by the Mets and then was sold to the Los Angeles Dodgers. In 2014 he was selected off waivers from the Dodgers and signed with the Texas Rangers. He was a Ranger for all of two and a half weeks before being selected by the Phillies off waivers from the Rangers. His career had almost come full circle. Five different organizations including one twice in just over four years. The Padres will be his sixth different club and hopefully he can make his mark on the Padres franchise.
Rosin has only six innings of major league experience. He is 1-0 with a 12.00 ERA as he allowed eight earned runs in his six innings for the Rangers and Phillies. He was 4-3 this season for Lehigh Valley the Phillies Triple-A team. He had a 3.29 ERA in 47 games and 68 innings pitched, striking out 49 batters. For his career in the minors Rosin is 21-20 with a 3.86 ERA in 198 games (43 starts). He has struck out 366 batters in 421 innings pitched in the minors.
Trey McNutt is an interesting story as he was once considered a very high prospect in the game of baseball. Some shoulder injuries have derailed his career so far, but he is still 26 and if healthy could be a decent pick-up by A.J. Preller and the Padres front office.
When the Chicago Cubs and Tampa Bay Rays agreed to a deal for Matt Garza, it has been reported the Rays wanted either McNutt or Chris Archer. The Cubs chose to keep McNutt and deal Archer as he was viewed too much of a project at the time. I am sure the Cubs would like to have Archer back now, but that just shows you how highly touted McNutt was at one point. In 2010 McNutt went 10-1 with a 2.48 ERA. He struck out 132 batters in 116 games between three levels in the Cubs minor league system.
The big right handed pitcher owns a career 31-21 record with a 3.60 ERA in 375 innings pitched. He went 2-0 for the Cubs last season with a 6.75 ERA in eight innings pitched. After a series of shoulder injuries he hopes to return to his earlier dominance as a minor leaguer. He once owned a 94-96 mph fastball with an explosive slider. Slowly he has begun to return to form and the Padres hope he can further his progression with the team in 2016. This video was recorded a few weeks ago and McNutt was consistently hitting 95 on the radar gun once he warms up. His arm is feeling better and his potential is pretty scary.
James was born and raised in America’s Finest City. He is a passionate baseball fan with even more passion towards his hometown Padres. Editor-In-Chief of EastVillageTimes.com. Always striving to bring you the highest quality in San Diego Sports News. Original content, with original ideas, that’s our motto. Enjoy.