The Reds have announced the names of eleven players who are being to invited to spring training as non-roster players:
Among the names with big league experience are outfielder Laynce Nix and lefty reliever Aaron Fultz, who were signed to Minor League contracts last month.
Catcher Ryan Jorgensen, who was in the Twins’ organization last season and appeared in two big league games, is back with Cincinnati. Jorgensen spent most of 2007 with Triple-A Louisville, but in four games with the Reds, he batted .200 with two home runs and six RBIs. He was later suspended for 50 games for violating the league’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.
Outfielder Darnell McDonald has 42 games of big league experience with the Orioles and Twins, and he spent all of last season with Minnesota’s Triple-A club at Rochester, where he batted .268 with 11 homers and 57 RBIs.
Also invited were pitchers Ron Flores, Jeff Kennard and Adam Pettyjohn, who pitched in three games for the Reds last season, along with catcher Chris Kroski, infielders Wes Bankston, Kevin Barker and Luis Bolivar. Bankston, a corner infielder, played 17 games for the A’s last season.
In a bit of a surprise, top Reds prospects such as shortstops Chris Valaika and Todd Frazier and outfielder Drew Stubbs did not receive invites to big league camp.
I’m not the only one surprised that Stubbs, Valaika, and Frazier haven’t been invited to the major league training camp. I can’t imagine why those guys have been left off the list. You’d think they would benefit from working with the big club for a few weeks, though none of them are likely to make the major league roster on Opening Day.