Tampa Bay Rays sign outfielder Grady Sizemore

The Tampa Bay Rays have signed outfielder Grady Sizemore to a minor league deal, according to MLB.com's Bill Chastain:

#rays sign OF Grady Sizemore to a minor-league deal

— Bill Chastain (@wwchastain) June 15, 2015

Sizemore was released by the Phillies on June 1 after hitting .245/.288/.296 with five doubles for them in 104 plate appearances, numbers a far cry from his All-Star seasons in 2006-2008.

With Desmond Jennings currently on the disabled list after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his knee, the Rays are in need of outfield depth, with David DeJesus as the only true outfielder, and only a corner outfielder at that, on Tampa Bay's bench currently. When Tampa Bay has given starting center fielder Kevin Kiermaier a day off, they have been moving left fielder Brandon Guyer to center and playing DeJesus in left.

Despite the lack of depth, the four outfielders on Tampa Bay's roster currently have been solid, all of them having an OPS of .715 or better.

There is just one outfielder at Triple-A Durham on Tampa Bay's 40-man roster in 25-year-old Mikie Mahtook, who has seen some time with the Rays this season, going 3-for-20 in 10 games, with two of his three hits being home runs.

Sizemore hit .233/.299/.354 with five home runs in 112 games between Boston and Philadelphia last season, his first in the big leagues since 2011. He has played all three outfield spots fairly frequently since his return to the majors, so he offers the Rays some versatility in that department.

He will likely join a group of veteran outfielders in Durham that includes 29-year-old Corey Brown and 33-year-old Eugenio Velez, neither of whom are on the 40-man roster. Sizemore probably slots in ahead of both of them in the Rays' outfield pecking order, depending on his minor league performance.