 12/17/2004 11:28 AM ET
Indians sign four players
Minor league contracts include invites to Spring Training
|
By Anthony Castrovince / Special to MLB.com |
|
|
|
 |
|
| Denny Stark went 8-7 with a 5.47 ERA between Triple-A and the NL in 2004. (Juan Ocampo/Dodgers)
|
|
|
|
CLEVELAND -- The Indians' list of invitees to Spring Training camp was bumped up to 15 on Friday, as the team signed four players to minor league contracts for the 2005 season.
Right-hander Denny Stark, left-hander Chad Zerbe, infielder/outfielder Mike Kinkade and infielder Jose Morban will all be invited to the Tribe's Major League camp in February.
Both pitchers the Indians signed are products of Ohio.
The 30-year-old Stark spent most of the 2004 season with the Rockies' Triple-A club in Colorado Springs. He went 8-2 with a 3.50 ERA in 14 games, including 13 starts.
Stark, a native of Edgerton, Ohio, and a Toledo graduate, began the season as the Rockies' fifth starter. He made six starts, going 0-5 with an 11.42 ERA. In 2003, he went 11-4 with a 4.00 ERA in 32 games and 20 starts for the Rockies before upper back problems put him out of commission.
Stark was a fourth-round pick by the Mariners in 1996 before being traded to the Rockies for Jeff Cirillo.
Zerbe, 32, spent the last six seasons in the Giants organization. He pitched all of 2004 with Triple-A Fresno, going 6-6 with a 4.29 ERA in 33 games and 14 starts. He spent parts of the 2000-03 seasons in the big leagues and owns a career Major League record of 6-1 with a 3.87 ERA in 114 games, including two starts.
Zerbe is a native of Findlay, Ohio.
Kinkade, 31, is coming off a 2004 season spent in Japan's Central League with the Hashin Tigers. Slowed by a concussion and broken left hand, Kinkade played just 26 games and hit .233 with three home runs and seven RBIs. He was hit by 12 pitches in that brief span.
Kinkade spent two full seasons in the big leagues with the Orioles in 2001 and the Dodgers in 2003. He has a career Major League batting average of .256 with 13 home runs and 48 RBIs in 222 games with the Mets, Orioles and Dodgers.
Morban, 25, split the '04 season between Double-A Bowie and Class A Frederick in the Orioles organization, hitting .209 at Bowie and .235 at Frederick.
Morban spent all of '03 with the Orioles, playing in 61 games and batting .141 with two home runs and five RBIs.
The Indians' complete list of Spring Training invitees is as follows:
Pitchers: Right-handers Kenny Rayborn, Denny Stark, Jake Robbins and Steve Watkins; Left-hander Chad Zerbe.
Catchers: Ryan Garko and David Wallace.
Infielders: Erick Almonte, Jeff Liefer, Mike Kinkade and Jose Morban.
Outfielders: Andy Abad, John Rodriguez and Ernie Young.Anthony Castrovince is a contributing writer to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
|
|
|
| MLB Headlines | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
News
print this page