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The Reds signed veteran left-handed reliever Aaron Fultz to a Minor League contract this weekend. The deal, according to an industry source, came with an invitation to big league camp at Spring Training.
Fultz did not pitch in the Majors last season after he was released by the Indians in late March. He appeared in six Minor League games combined with the Rockies’ Double-A affiliate and the Tigers’ Triple-A club.
With Cleveland in 2007, Fultz was 4-3 with a 2.92 ERA in 49 games. An eight-year big league veteran of the Giants, Rangers, Twins, Phillies and Indians, the 35-year-old is 25-15 with a 4.26 ERA in 463 games.
Fultz is the second free agent to be signed to a Minor League deal by the Reds in the past week. Outfielder Laynce Nix was signed on Dec. 14 and invited to big league camp.
Not sure how Fultz fits in, but I have a strange suspicion that he will be in Dusty Baker’s Opening Day bullpen.
Not a bad idea to sign extra arms to go into camp. Lincoln worked out OK, I guess. If he can revert back in time to 2007, then I am all for having another lefty option in the pen. If he’s not where he should be, it’s a minor league contract. The only way this could be a bad thing is if Dusty gets caught up in the ‘veteran presence’ thing and someone who has a good spring (for example, Roenicke) has to pay for it.
I think even if Dusty gets caught up in veteran presence, if Fultz actually makes it to the team and sucks something awful…there is tons of pitching depth to replace him.
Nothing wrong with this move as it is and I doubt it’ll turn into something similar to what happened with certain and very specific godawful position players. Competition is good.
At least if needs to be cut mid-year, it won’t be a multi-million dollar mistake.
http://www.forecaster.ca/thestar.com/baseball/player-career.cgi?446
Reverting back to his 2005 form would be even better.
The following should six be locks for bullpen spots:
Cordero
Weathers
Bray
Burton
Rhodes
Lincoln
That leaves one spot open. RH candidates are Masset, Roenicke, and Adkins. LH candidates are Herrera, Fultz, Flores, and Pelland. Ideally this spot would be a long reliever who could spot start. I’d say Masset has the inside track. Unless they decide to go with one of the losers of the 5th SP race for this spot which would mean one of Owings/Bailey/Ramirez/Maloney/Thompson.
Thanks for the reminder that our bullpen is in pretty good shape. I am glad we have these options. The 5th starter race also should provide us some insurance in the event of injury or meltdown.
Like the Nix signing, this deal has a low-risk moderate-reward possibility. Should Fultz get his ‘07 form back, then he’ll have a good shot as a lefty spot reliever to compete with Bray.
However, one has to wonder why he didn’t face a single batter in the majors last year.
Do not forget Robert Manuel, he did well in the winter leagues and a good minor league season…he’s on the 40 man roster too.
Thompson and especially Ramirez has potential in the bullpen if a SP spot is not available. One thing is for sure, the reds have some serious pitching, possibly more potential than I remember in 25 years