Another sign that Z is not locking into youth. Switch-hitting C Josh Bard signed to minor-league deal with ST invite. Bard had two very interesting offensive seasons for the Padres in 2006 and 2007, but has been a non-factor on offense in 08 and 09. Very good eye ratio all along.
Z sez: "We have two catchers, one who's experienced in Johnson and one, Moore, who's unproven, although we like him a lot," Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik said. "We thought it was important to shore up our catching scenario and see what happens.
"We had an opportunity to sign two guys [in Alfonzo and Bard] to create opportunities. Bard has been around, there have been spurts where he's been a pretty good offensive player and he should be a really good mentor as far as handling a staff. You always have a need for an extra guy you can bring up from Triple-A because you never know what can happen with injuries, and we saw that last year with [former Seattle catcher] Kenji [Johjima] and Rob."
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/bardjo01.shtml
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