Is Ray Olmedo Coming Back?

Ray Olmedo Hoisting the 2009 Governors' Cup for the Bulls

The Rays signed four players to minor league contracts and one of them is well-known to Bulls fans — Ray Olmedo. He was most recently mentioned in this blog when he started a triple play in a Rochester/Norfolk playoff game last year. We’ve written a lot about Ray over the years (he was a Bull in 2009 and 2011). He was first mentioned back on April 12, 2009. Interesting game, apparently. Obscure pitcher named Price was the starter. Ray got one of his rare home runs. He had 6 in 2009, but only 25 in his 11 years in Triple-A. He's always been an asset, particularly at 2B and 3B. And he always looks like he's having fun.

Are we sure he will be coming back? Well, no. What actually happened is that the Rays signed four ballplayers to minor league contracts with an “invitation to spring training.” If past is any prologue, almost all of the minor league free agents who get contracts worded like that are 1) released at or near the end of spring training, 2) assigned to the Durham Bulls, or 3) (rare) assigned to the Montgomery Biscuits. We’ll be writing more about this when spring training starts.

How about the other three players signed?

They are hitter James Darnell, catcher Ali Solis, and a young right-handed reliever named Santiago Garrido. You could not do better than to check out the profiles of these players by Robbie Knopf over at Rays Colored Glasses.