Nats Restock On Minor-League Pitchers Again

The latest transaction post from Baseball America was issued last night, with the Nationals signing six pitchers and Micah Owings — a pitcher trying to convert to playing a position:

• RHP Jeremy Accardo
• LHP Will Ohman
• 1B Michah Owings
• RHP Mike Crotta
• LHP Kelvin A. de la Cruz
• RHP Adrian Green
• RHP Luis Torres

Accardo, Ohman, and Owings have been previously reported or covered by the “Big Nats” beat writers. Here’s the information that I was able to dig up on the others…

…Crotta is a 28-y.o. veteran of the Pittsburgh organization, drafted in ’06 but did not pitch in 2012 (elbow) after making the Pirates 25-man roster as a reliever in 2011. He reportedly was timed at 96 m.p.h. in his tryout. He’s mostly started in the minors, but to paraphrase the folks at PiratesProspects.com, Crotta has benefited from the love that Pittsburgh GMs such as Dave Littlefield have had with extreme GB pitchers with low BB and K totals.

…de la Cruz is a 24-y.o. six-year FA who was signed as a teenager by the Cleveland organization but was traded to Texas, then claimed by Detroit when the Rangers tried to pass him through waivers last spring. He has yet to pitch above AA, though 2012 was his first season since 2008 that he walked less than four batters per nine innings. Shortly after his trade to the Rangers, IndiansBaseballInsider.com posted this scouting report not the former Indians farmhand as originally reported (H/T to SpringfieldFan for pointing out the comments in the article). He is righthanded and appears to be ticketed for Auburn, but no further details could be found.

…Green cannot be located in any story besides the BA post, which either means he’s a relative of Sidd Finch or he’s “the kid that just showed up at that tryout for some other guy” from dime-novel lore.

…Torres is an 18-y.o. Venezuelan signed from the International Prospect League, which also lists the Nationals as having signed an Israel Mota, for whom there are no further details.

As mentioned in the recently completed series on the pitching staffs of the four full-season affiliates, the odds are long for the veteran pitchers to stick around past March. Coming off an elbow injury, Crotta fits the m.o. of an injury reclamation that has become a Nats hallmark. de la Cruz is probably the most likely to make an upper minors roster, given his age (24) and laterality (left).