January 31, 2013 at 7:13 PM
Overbay, Durbin among latest minor league signings
According to Baseball America, the Red Sox have signed pitchers Charlie Haeger and Christian Perdomo to minor league contracts. The team has also signed first baseman Lyle Overbay and pitcher J.D. Durbin to minor league deals.
Overbay, perhaps the most notable of the group, received an invitation to spring training and will look to compete for a spot on the Red Sox bench. According to Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald, Overbay can opt-out of the deal if he is not on the major league roster by the end of spring training. The 36-year-old played just 65 major league games last season between Arizona and Atlanta, hitting .259/.331/.397 with two home runs and 10 RBI. The left-handed hitting first baseman spent the majority of his career with the Toronto Blue Jays, hitting .312/.372/.508 with 22 home runs and 93 RBI in his best year in 2006.
Durbin, 30, has not appeared in a major league contest since going 6-5 with a 5.15 ERA in 18 games with the Phillies in 2007. Since that time, Durbin has bounced around from the Phillies and Dodgers organizations to Japan, Mexico and the Lancaster Barnstormers in the independent Atlantic League. Last season for Lancaster, Durbin went 14-9 with a 4.48 ERA in 28 starts. Durbin was claimed by the Red Sox on waivers from the Phillies on April 10, 2007 and designated for assignment the same day, eventually being reclaimed by the Phillies three days later.
Haeger, 29, rejoins the Red Sox organization after being released in January of 2012. The knuckleballer missed all of the 2012 season after recovering from Tommy John surgery. After being picked up by Boston in mid-2011, Haeger went 4-1 with a 3.24 ERA in eight starts for Double-A Portland.
Perdomo, a 2011 graduate of George Washington High School in in New York, is a 6-foot-5 left-hander who appeared in just three games last season for Advanced Software Analysis Junior College in Brooklyn.
John Gray is a Staff Writer for SoxProspects.com. Follow him on Twitter @JohnRGray
Photo credit: Charlie Haeger by Kelly O'Connor