The Tampa Bay Rays have brought back another bat from their past, signing infielder Daniel Robertson to a minor-league deal with an invitation to big-league Spring Training.
Robertson, who will turn 29 during Spring Training, spent 2022 in the minor-leagues, splitting time between the Minnesota Twins and Philadelphia Phillies. His last tenure in the major leagues came in 2021, when he played 50 games with with Milwaukee Brewers, hitting .164/.303/.274 with a pair of home runs and four RBI.
The infielder spent parts of three seasons with the Rays at the big-league level, making his major league debut in 2017. In 236 games with Tampa Bay, he hit .231/.340/.352 with 16 home runs and 72 RBI.
He was originally drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the forst round of the 2012 draft, and came to Tampa Bay prior to the 2015 season in a trade that sent infielders Ben Zobrist and Yunel Escobar to Oakland.
With his signing, Tampa Bay will now have 80 players in big-league camp as it opens on Wednesday.
Steve Carney is the founder and publisher of St. Pete Nine. One of the people most associated with baseball coverage in Tampa Bay, he spent 13 seasons covering the Rays for flagship radio station WDAE, first as producer of Rays Radio broadcasts, then as beat reporter beginning in 2011. He likes new analytics and aged bourbon, and is the owner of one of the ugliest knuckleballs ever witnessed by baseball scouts.
