The Arizona Diamondbacks have signed right-handed pitcher Kyle Drabek to a Minor League deal.
The Arizona Diamondbacks have brought a former top prospect into the organization. According to Matt Eddy at Baseball America (via mlbtraderumors), the D-backs have signed right-handed pitcher Kyle Drabek to a Minor League deal. Drabek, who will turn 28 on December 8th, is the son of former Cy Young award winner Doug Drabek and has pitched in a total of 42 Major League games over the last six seasons. He owns a lifetime mark of 8-15 with an ERA of 5.27.
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Drabek was originally selected with the 18th overall pick of the 2006 Draft by the Philadelphia Phillies. He was the centerpiece of one of the biggest trades in Phillies’ history as he was sent to the Toronto Blue Jays along with current Major Leaguers Travis d’Arnaud and Michael Taylor in exchange for ace pitcher Roy Halladay on December 16th, 2009. Before the 2010 season, Baseball America ranked Drabek as the game’s #25 prospect while the following year he was ranked #29th. However, he has just not quite put it all together at the Big League level, mainly because of injury. His most extensive time in the Majors came in 2011 as he appeared in 18 games, 14 of them starts and complied a record of 4-5 with an ERA of 6.06. He made 14 starts the next season with the Blue Jays going 4-7 with a 4.67 ERA. After the 2014 campaign, Drabek became a free agent and was signed by the Chicago White Sox, where he pitched in three games, all in relief in the month of April before being designated for assignment. He proceeded to spend the rest of the year with the Charlotte Knights, Chicago’s Triple A affiliate.
Drabek has undergone Tommy John surgery twice in his career, once in 2007 and again in 2012. The second time came after a game in June when he felt something pop. The surgery wiped out just about the entire 2013 season. After being a starter for virtually his entire career, Drabek was tried as a reliever during the 2014 season, making 18 of 32 appearances that year out of the bullpen for Triple A Buffalo. In 2015, he went back to being a starter and went 7-11 with a 3.47 ERA for Charlotte.
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Also according to traderumors, the D-backs also signed outfielder/first baseman Kyle Jensen and third baseman Carlos Rivero. Jensen, age 27 is a former 12th round Draft pick of the Miami Marlins who has hit 153 home runs over the course of seven Minor League seasons including 47 over the last two years at Triple A ball. Rivero, also 27, was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cleveland Indians in 2005. He has a career .262 batting average across ten Minor League seasons and received eight plate appearances in 2014 for the Boston Red Sox.