The Indians continue to add to the pitchers who will be in camp in Arizona in less than a month. Friday, they added Matt Herges and Jack Cassel. Both are right-handed, and both are non-roster invitees.
Here is the press release:
The Cleveland Indians today announced the minor league free agent signings of RHP JACK CASSEL & RHP MATT HERGES. Each player has also received a non-roster invitation to Major League camp in February in Goodyear, Arizona.
Cassel, 28, has appeared in 15 games (seven starts) over parts of the last two seasons with the San Diego Padres and most recently the Houston Astros. He holds a career record of 2-2 with a 4.92 ERA in 53.0 IP (68H, 29ER, 13BB, 25K). Cassel was originally drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 25th round of the 2000 amateur draft and attending LA Pierce Junior College and Loyola Marymount University. He owns a career minor league record of 51-56 record and a 4.04 ERA in 348 games (93GS, 913.1IP, 1028H, 410ER). He is the older brother of Matt Cassel, who started 15 games for the New England Patriots in 2008 (21TD).
Jack appeared in nine games (three starts) going 1-1 with a 5.64 ERA (30.1IP, 19ER) in four different stints for the Houston Astros last season. His four innings of relief at COL on 9/7 tied for the club’s longest relief appearance of the season. Spending majority of 2008 with the AAA Round Rock Express, he was 9-5 with a 3.65 ERA (19G/17GS, 107.1 IP, 44K). From April through July, he posted a 7-1 record and a 1.98 ERA (72.2IP, 16ER) in 13 appearances (11 starts).
Herges, 38, has a Major League career record of 40-34 and a 3.94 ERA in 537 games (4GS, 656.1IP, 701H, 287ER, 447K) for seven (7) teams over a 17-year professional career. He is one of two MLB players (Steve Finley) to have played on every team within a five-team division, both appearing for all five NL West clubs. The veteran has appeared in the big leagues over each of the last 10 seasons since 1999, winning a combined 20 games for the LA Dodgers in 2000-01. He joined the Dodgers farm system as a non-drafted free agent in June of 1992.
Matt spent the entire 2008 season in a Rockies uniform. It was his second consecutive year with the Rockies and in 58 big league appearances he went 3-4 record with a 5.04 ERA (64.1 IP, 79H, 36ER, 24BB, 46K). Herges was placed on the disabled list in late August with lower back stiffness.
The Indians now have 18 non-roster invitees to Major League camp.
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Yesss! A Tribe blog! I’m excited. Opening Day can’t come soon enough.
Herges looks like a solid middle reliever, if we have room. Playing for every team in your division should be a compliment. That means the scouts of your most common opponents admire you.
I wouldn’t get too excited about Herges. With the exception of 2007 in Colorado where he pretty much pitched in a mop-up/middle relief role, he’s not been effective since 2003. I saw him pitch quite a bit out here and was never all that impressed.