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The Cincinnati Reds have signed three free agents -- infielder Emmanuel Burriss, catcher Nevin Ashley and right-handed pitcher Jeff Stevens -- to minor-league contracts, reports Matt Eddy of Baseball America:
#Reds sign 2B Emmanuel Burriss, C Nevin Ashley & RHRP Jeff Stevens to minor league deals.
— Matt Eddy (@eddymk) November 21, 2012
Of the three players signed, Burriss has seen the the most big-league action. The 27-year-old infielder played a part-time role with the San Francisco Giants over the past five seasons -- hitting .243/.304/.269 over two-hundred eighty-two games in that span -- before being released earlier this month.
Stevens, 29, had three brief stints in the Chicago Cubs' bullpen from 2009 to 2011, but could not find his way onto the big-league roster with the Mets this past season. The right-hander owns an unsightly 6.27 ERA and 6.0 BB/9 rate in thirty-seven and a third big-league innings, but has a much better 3.80 ERA and 4.5 BB/9 rate in eight seasons at Triple-A.
The 28-year-old Ashley has yet to make his major-league debut, and has been bouncing around in the Tampa Bay Rays' minor-league system for seven years. The righty-hitting backstop is a career .260/.355/.384 hitter in his time in the minors and thrown out 37 percent of would-be base stealers, which is well above average.