The New York Yankees today announced they have signed outfielder Marcus Thames to a minor league contract with an invitation to Major League spring training. In total, the club invited 20 non-roster players to 2010 Spring Training in Tampa, Fla. The list includes 10 pitchers, five catchers and five outfielders. The total number of players now scheduled to report is 60.

Thames, 32, was originally selected by the Yankees in the 30th round of the 1996 First-Year Player Draft. He owns a .243 career batting average with 75 doubles, 101 home runs and 261 RBI in 522 Major League games over parts of eight seasons with the Yankees, Texas Rangers and Detroit Tigers. Since 2006, he has averaged one home run every 14.52 at-bats, marking the fourth-lowest ratio in the American League over the stretch (min. 1,100 AB). Thames batted .252 with 11 doubles, 13 home runs and 36 RBI in 87 games with the Tigers in 2009, missing nearly two months (April 19-June 7) on the disabled list with a left rib cage strain.

LHP Wilkins Arias, 29, spent the 2009 season with Double-A Trenton, going 5-4 with a 3.65 ERA in 48 appearances (two starts) and holding left-handed batters to a .183 (20-for-109) batting average with one home run. Arias was originally signed by the Yankees as a non-drafted free agent in June 2005.

LHP Jeremy Bleich, 22, combined to go 9-10 with a 4.86 ERA in 27 starts with Single-A Tampa and Double-A Trenton in 2009. Bleich enters the 2010 season ranked by Baseball America as the organization’s ninth-best prospect after recording the fifth-most strikeouts (116) among all Yankees minor leaguers in 2009. The Louisiana native was originally selected by the Yankees in Compensation Round A (44th overall) of the 2008 First-Year Player Draft.

OF Colin Curtis, 24, appeared in 126 games with Double-A Trenton and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in 2009, combining to bat .250 with seven home runs, 48 RBI and a career-high 24 doubles. Curtis was originally selected by the Yankees in the fourth round of the 2006 First-Year Player Draft out of Arizona State University.

RHP Grant Duff, 27, combined to go 4-3 with two saves and a 3.52 ERA in 45 appearances (one start) with Single-A Tampa and Double-A Trenton in 2009. The right-hander was selected by the Yankees in the 31st round of the 2004 First-Year Player Draft out of the College of the Sequoias in Visalia, Calif.

OF Reid Gorecki, 29, saw his first Major League action in 2009, batting .200 in 31 games with Atlanta. Also spent time with Triple-A Gwinnett, batting .286 with 27 doubles, nine home runs and 49 RBI in 106 games, setting a career high in doubles. Gorecki was originally selected by St. Louis in the 13th round of the 2002 First-Year Player Draft.

C Kyle Higashioka, 19, batted .253 with 11 doubles, two home runs and 32 RBI in 60 games with short-season Single-A Staten Island in 2009, leading all New York-Penn League catchers in games caught (57), total chances (497) and putouts (451). His 25.3 percent caught stealing rate (19-for-75) ranked fifth in the league. Originally selected by the Yankees in the seventh round of the 2008 First-Year Player Draft, Higashioka will be the youngest player in the team’s spring training camp.

RHP Jason Hirsh, 27, owns an 8-11 career record with a 5.32 ERA in 32 appearances (29 starts) over parts of three Major League seasons with Houston (2006) and Colorado (2007-08). In 2009, he combined to go 10-7 with a 5.55 ERA in 26 appearances (22 starts) with Triple-A Colorado Springs and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Following a mid-season trade to the Yankees on July 29, 2009, he went undefeated in six starts with Scranton/WB, going 4-0 with a 1.35 ERA. Hirsh was originally selected by Houston in the second round of the 2003 First-Year Player Draft.

LHP Kei Igawa, 30, led Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in both wins and games started, going 10-8 with a 4.15 ERA in 26 starts. With 29 career wins at the Triple-A level, the lefthander now holds the record for most victories in Scranton/WB history. Igawa was originally acquired by the Yankees through the Japanese posting process in November 2007 and owns a 2-4 record with a 6.66 ERA in 16 Major League games (13 starts).

RHP Zach McAllister, 22, went 7-5 with an Eastern League leading 2.23 ERA in 22 starts with Double-A Trenton in 2009, ranking second among Yankees minor leaguers in ERA. Originally selected by the Yankees in the third round of the 2006 First-Year Player Draft, he enters 2010 ranked by Baseball America as the Yankees’ fifth-best prospect and as having the “Best Control” in the organization.

C Jesus Montero, 20, combined to bat .337 with 45 runs, 25 doubles, 17 home runs and 70 RBI in 92 games with Single-A Tampa and Double-A Trenton in 2009, ranking fourth among all Yankees minor leaguers in home runs. Named to the midseason All-Star teams with both Tampa and Trenton, he had his season cut short when he was hit by a pitch while behind the plate on 8/1, fracturing his middle finger. Originally signed by the Yankees as a non-drafted free agent in October 2006, the Venezuela native, played for the World Team in the 2009 All-Star Futures Game at St. Louis’ Busch Stadium. He enters the 2010 season ranked by Baseball America as the Yankees’ top prospect and the fifth-best prospect in all of Baseball (top catcher).

C P.J. Pilittere, 28, combined to hit .220 with one home run and 17 RBI in 55 games with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and Double-A Trenton in 2009. Originally selected by the Yankees in the 13th round of the 2004 First-Year Player Draft, Pilittere will be making his fourth straight spring training appearance after receiving non-roster invitations each year since 2007.

LHP Royce Ring, 29, spent the 2009 season with Triple-A Memphis, going 5-2 with four saves and a 3.04 ERA in 51 relief outings. In 94 relief appearances, he owns a 3-3 record with a 4.93 ERA over parts of four Major League seasons with the Mets (2005-06), San Diego (2007) and Atlanta (2007-08), holding left-handed batters to a .229 (30-for-131) batting average. Ring was originally selected by Chicago-AL as the 18th overall pick in the first round of the 2002 First-Year Player Draft.

C Mike Rivera, 33, owns a .244 (129-for-528) career batting average with 13 home runs and 69 RBI in 181 Major League games over parts of seven seasons with Detroit (2001-02), San Diego (2003) and Milwaukee (2006-09). He hit .228 with two home runs and 14 RBI in 41 games with the Brewers in 2009, making 31 starts at catcher. Rivera was originally signed by the Detroit Tigers as a non-drafted free agent in 1997.

C Austin Romine, 21, was selected by the Yankees in the second round of the 2007 First-Year Player Draft out of El Toro High School in California and will be making his third consecutive appearance as a spring training non-roster invitee. He batted .276 with 61 runs, 28 doubles, 13 home runs and 72 RBI in 118 games with Single-A Tampa in 2009, tying his career high in hits and establishing career highs in doubles and RBI. Following the season, Romine was tabbed by Baseball America as the second-best prospect in the Yankees organization. He was selected by the Yankees in the second round of the 2007 First-Year Player Draft.

RHP Amaury Sanit, 30, went 1-5 with 10 saves and a 3.16 ERA in 44 combined relief outings with Single-A Tampa, Double-A Trenton and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in 2009. Sanit was originally signed by the Yankees as a non-drafted free agent in August 2008.

RHP Zack Segovia, 26, went 1-0 with a 7.84 ERA in eight relief appearances with the Washington Nationals in 2009. He also saw time at the minor league level, combining to go 3-5 with six saves and a 3.24 ERA in 51 appearances (three starts) with Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Syracuse. Segovia was originally selected by the Phillies in the second round of the 2002 First-Year Player Draft.

OF Jon Weber, 31, hit .302 with 14 home runs and 69 RBI in 117 games with Triple-A Durham in 2009, leading the team in hits (136) and doubles (46) and ranking third in runs scored (63) and RBI. Originally signed by Cincinnati as a non-drafted free agent in 1999, Weber spent the last two seasons in the Tampa Bay Rays organization.

RHP Kevin Whelan, 26, combined to go 4-0 with three saves and a 2.67 ERA in 44 relief appearances with Double-A Trenton and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in 2009, allowing just one home run in 67.1 IP. Whelan was acquired by the Yankees with RHPs Humberto Sanchez and Anthony Claggett from Detroit in exchange for OF Gary Sheffield in November 2006. He was originally drafted by the Tigers in the fourth round of the 2005 First-Year Player Draft.

OF David Winfree, 24, batted .273 with 48 runs, 14 home runs, 61 RBI and a career-high-tying 31 doubles in 116 games with Triple-A Rochester in 2009, leading the team in doubles, ranking second in home runs and RBI and third in hits. Winfree was originally selected by the Twins in the 13th round of the 2003 First-Year Player Draft. [READ]

Dodgers third base coach Larry Bowa says the team will keep a close eye on Manny Ramirez this season because of the way he wore down and lost his pop in 2009.

"When he came back to us last year, he looked a bit lost, and it took him a while to get things going," Bowa told the Boston Globe. "I know he wants to play another three or four years, so this is an important year for him." [READ]

The New York Yankees today announced they have signed outfielder Randy Winn to a one-year contract.

Winn, 35, owns a lifetime .286 batting average (1,710-for-5,981) with 359 doubles, 57 triples, 106 home runs, 637 RBI and 209 stolen bases in 1,601 Major League games over a 12-year career with Tampa Bay (1998-2002), Seattle (2003-05) and San Francisco (2005-09).

Originally selected by the Florida Marlins in the third round of the 1995 First-Year Player Draft, Winn was a 2002 All-Star with Tampa Bay. Over the last eight years (2002-09), he is tied for seventh place among all Major Leaguers in games (1,234) and doubles (304) and has compiled the eighth-most hits (1,378) over the span. [READ]

The Indians are monitoring the status of free-agent outfielder Jermaine Dye.

Dye turned down a $3.3 million offer from the Cubs.

Cleveland would like to add a right-handed bat and Dye hasn't received much interest since rejecting Chicago's offer. [READ]

Former Mets general manager and ESPN analyst Steve Phillips said Monday that he knew he had a sex addiction problem in August, two months before he was fired by the network.

"What I want to do is take ownership," he said in an interview with Matt Lauer on NBC's Today Show. "I made some mistakes ... I'm fully responsible for what I did."

Phillips spoke publicly for the first time since he left the Pine Grove Behavioral Health and Addiction Services clinic, the same clinic Tiger Woods reportedly attended.

He said he realized he had a sexual addiction problem in August, while he was having an affair with ESPN production assistant Brooke Hundley.

"I couldn't stop myself from doing the things I was doing, even knowing the consequences," Phillips told Lauer on Monday. [READ]

The Mets have hired former major league manager Bob Melvin as a professional scout.

In addition, New York also brought back Mookie Wilson as their minor league outfield and base running coordinator.

Melvin was the National League Manager of the Year in 2007 with Arizona. [READ]

The Baseball Hall of Fame will hold a second annual Hall of Fame Classic on Father's Day this year.

The Hall began a Father's Day weekend last June, with five Hall of Famers and more than 20 other former major leaguers making the trip.

The game replaced the annual exhibition game between major league teams, which was discontinued because it had become too difficult to fit into the regular-season schedule. [READ]

The Brewers are erecting a statue of baseball commissioner Bud Selig outside Miller Park and will unveil it on Aug. 24.

Selig led a group that bought the Seattle Pilots in bankruptcy court in 1970 and moved the franchise to Milwaukee and renamed it the Brewers.

"The Brewers and Miller Park are in this city because of the commissioner's vision and dedicated efforts," owner Mark Attanasio said Monday. [READ]

Twins owner Jim Pohlad says he's staying out of contract negotiations with catcher Joe Mauer, but still very much wants to keep the reigning AL MVP.

Pohlad says he doesn't see six years as a "magic number" for length of a deal, when asked about his potential willingness to approve a longer contract for Mauer.

First baseman Justin Morneau's six-year contract is the longest in Minnesota team history. [READ]

The White Sox have unretired Luis Aparicio's No. 11 for shortstop Omar Vizquel.

Aparicio is the only Venezuelan to be inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame.

Vizquel, also a Venezuelan, was acquired by Chicago in November.

"If there is one player who I would like to see wear my uniform number with the White Sox, it is Omar Vizquel," Aparicio said in a statement.

"I have known Omar for a long time. Along with being an outstanding player, he is a good and decent man." [READ]

Royals ace Zack Greinke will make his first Opening Day start in 2010.

Greinke was the 2009 AL Cy Young winner after a 16-8, 2.16-ERA season.

"Zack is starting on Opening Day and Gil [Meche] will pitch Game 2, barring anything unforeseen, and both those guys know that already," manager Trey Hillman said.

Meche has started Kansas City's last two openers. [READ]

Asian pitcher Hisa Takahashi is receiving a significant amount of attention from major league clubs.

An overseas report claims that the Pirates have made an offer and the Giants, Dodgers, Mets and Orioles have been linked to the hurler as well. [READ]

The Nationals are thinking about making shortstop prospect Ian Desmond an all-purpose utility man this season.

With Cristian Guzman remaining at shortstop, it was assumed that Desmond would start the 2010 campaign at Triple-A Syracuse.

However, Washington is contemplating playing Desmond at all three outfielder positions, second base and shortstop.

Guzman is coming off shoulder surgery and foot issues, so keeping Desmond would provide some insurance as well.

"It will be determined in Spring Training," manager Jim Riggleman said. "We have to check out the health of Guzman. ... We anticipate that he will be our shortstop.

"Ian is such a good athlete. It would be fairer to him to try to get him some games in Spring Training -- mix in some games in the outfield, so it's fresher to him. If he were able to make the club and play both infield and outfield, Ian would be a nice weapon to have as a double switch. We also would give [second baseman Adam] Kennedy some days off and Guzman some days off. We would be able to use Ian as a pinch-runner." [READ]

The Tigers and Braves are reportedly interested in free-agent outfielder Johnny Damon.

How far Detroit goes with their interest, however, will depend on whether owner Mike Ilitch wants to expand the team's budget.

According to a FOX Sports report, Atlanta is unlikely to give Damon a hugely lucrative contract. [READ]

Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner is once again ready to enter spring training in a battle for an outfielder position.

"I don't see why not," Gardner said. "We don't have many guys. Last year, it seemed like we had 10 outfielders; now we only have a couple."

As it currently stands, the Yankees have Curtis Granderson, Nick Swisher, Randy Winn and Gardner competing for time in the outfield.

New York has expressed confidence in Gardner this winter based on moves that don't directly relate to the young speedster. They traded Melky Cabrera and prospect Austin Jackson and don't appear likely to bring Johnny Damon back.

"You never know," Gardner said. "I kind of keep track of it because I'm interested in what they're doing, but as far as where I think I'll be playing or what the plans are, I haven't talked to anyone about it. No one has called and offered me any information, and I haven't thought a lot about it." [READ]

The Rays and center fielder B.J. Upton are headed for arbitration.

Upton asked for $3.3 million for the 2010 season, but Tampa Bay was only willing to give him $3 million.

"I don't think anybody ever wants to actually go to a hearing," Upton said.

Either way, Upton will receive more than a $2.5 million raise from the $435,000 he made last season.

"I'm not the biggest fan of this process," Rays vice president of baseball Andrew Friedman said.

"I'm certainly not its biggest advocate. But it is what it is, and we all have to operate within it." [READ]

The Dominican Republic's Los Leones del Escogido defeated Venezuela's Leones del Caracas 7-4 Sunday night in the final game of the Caribbean Series.

The Dominican Republic finished 5-1, one game better than Puerto Rico's Indios de Mayaguez, who went 4-2.

It's the third Caribbean Series title for Los Leones and the 18th for a team from the Dominican Republic. [READ]

The Padres are sending mixed signals regarding Adrian Gonzalez's future.

A rival National League general manager believes that Gonzalez will be made available midway through the 2010 season.

"He'll be available at the trading deadline. That's when the next push will come, and if it's a good deal, it would be hard to say no, given that they know they can't sign him," the GM said. [READ]

The Twins are already reaping the benefits of their new stadium.

Entering their first season at Target Field, Minnesota's payroll is set to jump from $65 million to $97 million.

Their payroll was just $15.7 million a decade ago.
[READ]

The Giants insist that Buster Posey's future is as a catcher, but they are talking about moving him away from the plate.

San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy and general manager Brian Sabean have talked about Posey playing some infield this spring to boost his chances of making the team.

"We're going to give him a lot of playing time this spring," Bochy said. "Everybody looks at the situation with Bengie (Molina) and Eli (Whiteside) and think that Buster has to go to Fresno. But that's not etched in stone." [READ]

Orioles greats Cal Ripken and Brooks Robinson are confident that Miguel Tejada can make the switch to third base.

Ripken, a shortstop, and Robinson, a second baseman, both made the switch to third in their careers.

"There's no doubt about it," Ripken said.

"I think the hardest part is reworking the thinking about the position," he added.

Robinson, considered by many as one of the greatest defensive third basemen to play the game, said the biggest change will be adjusting to the ball coming off the bat. [READ]