In non-bizarre news, Matt Eddy of Baseball America mentioned in the comment section of a recent article that two players the Rays signed as minor league free agents this offseason, right-handers Jamie Wright and Juan Oviedo, are Title XX-B free agents, which means that they will receive a $100,000 bonus if they start the season in the minors and have a June 1st opt-out date if they’re still in the minors at that time. Oviedo is hurt, having undergone Tommy John Surgery last year that will sideline him until August, so this is probably irrelevant for him, but Wright is going to be interesting. Wright is a sinkerballing reliever with the ability to slide right into the role vacated by the trade of Burke Badenhop, and his title XX-B status may give an inside track for the final spot in the Rays bullpen. Wright put up a 3.72 ERA in 66 appearances for the Dodgers in 2012, managing an outstanding 67.3% groundball rate, so him landing a spot in the Rays’ pen would be far from a bad thing.

Talked about in the Baseball America article itself was that the Arizona Diamondbacks have signed former Rays minor leaguer Chris Nowak. We covered Nowak quite a bit in our Winter Ball Recaps here at RCG as he put up huge numbers, managing a.311/.442/.513 line with 6 home runs and a 22-21 strikeout to walk ratio for the Navegantes de Magallanes, who went onto win the Venezuelan Winter League championship. Nowak, who the Rays’ drafted back in the 19th round of the 2004 MLB Draft, played 2012 in unaffiliated leagues after 8 years in the Rays and Brewers organizations, and it’s great to see him back in a major league organization continuing to pursue his dream of playing in the major leagues.

Dominican Winter League: Aguilas Cibaenas 14, Tigres del Licey 1

This game was over early as Cibaenas struck for 7 runs in the top of the first inning. Manny Ramirez had a great game for the Aguilas, going 3 for 4 with a double, a walk, an RBI, and 2 runs scored. Ramirez actually one of just Agulas to have a multi-hit game. The other one was second baseman Rafael Ynoa, who subbed in for Omar Luna and had a huge game, going 3 for 5 with a grand slam in the first inning. After a game like this, will Luna ever get his lineup spot back?

Leones de Escogido 9, Toros del Este 4

Willy Aybar, starting for just the second time since November 23rd, finally got his first hits since November 20th, going 2 for 5 with a double and a run scored for Escogido. The double was his first of the DWL season. Aybar is 7 for 35 so far in the DWL, although he does have a good 3-3 strikeout to walk ratio.

Mexican Pacific League: Yaquis de Obregon 4, Naranjeros de Hermosillo 3 (11 innings)

Jorge Cantu continued his power tear in this one with a first inning 2-run homer in a losing effort for Hermosillo. Cantu has homered in 3 straight games and 4 times in his last 5 games. In those five games, Cantu is 7 for 20 (.350) with 4 homers and 12 RBI. Wow. Cantu has not torn apart the MPL by any stretch, hitting just .242 on the year, but he’s showing now that he can still do it and we’ll have to see if he’ll ever make it back to the big leagues for any extended stretch after spending 2012 at the Angel’s Triple-A affiliate.

Venezuelan Winter League: Tiburones de La Guaira 8, Caribes de Anzoategui 2

Cesar Suarez has been in a slump for La Guaira but had a nice game out of the 2-hole in this one, going 3 for 5 with a double, a stolen base, an RBI, and a run scored. He has a nice .302/.337/.467 line so far in the VWL.

Navegantes de Magallanes 3, Tigres de Aragua 0

A trio of former Rays had multi-hit games in this one. Leslie Anderson (who is also not yet a former Ray) was not among them, going 0 for 4 in the game, but Chris Nowak went 2 for 4 with a double and Erold Andrus went 2 for 3 with an RBI for Magallanes and Joey Gathright (remember him?) went 2 for 3 for Aragua, actually getting gunned down at home plate by Anderson. Nowak has been moved into the Navegantes’ 3-hole as he has been unbelievable of late, posting a .379/.500/.621 line in his last 10 games with a double, 2 homers, 4 RBI, and 6 walks against just 2 strikeouts to raise his overall line on the VWL season to an outstanding .309/.437/.518.

Leones del Caracas 5, Aguilas del Zulia 4

Henry Wrigley is officially in a slump as his 0 for 4 in this one made him 8 for 35 (.223) in his last 10 games with 12 strikeouts versus just 2 walks. 5 of his 8 hits have gone for extra bases, including a homer, so he very well could be selling out too much for power. The story in this game was the Mariners’ Franklin Gutierrez playing for Caracas, going 3 for 4 with a double, 2 stolen bases, and a run scored. One of the stolen basess was a steal of home as part of a double steal in the 5th inning.

Dominican Winter League: Aguilas Cibaenas 6, Gigantes del Cibao 4

Omar Luna has officially been benched for the Aguilas, with Joaquin Arias starting in his place at shortstop and batting second on Sunday. Will it be a one-day thing or the start of a trend? In any event, Manny Ramirez went 2 for 4 with 2 RBI for Cibaenas while Rhyne Hughes went 1 for 3 with a walk and an RBI for Cibao.

Tigres del Licey 6, Leones del Escogido 4

Jesus Colome tossed a great 7th inning for Licey, striking out the side while working around a hit. He’s been really hit-or-miss in the DWL, managing a 4.97 ERA on the season- sounds like the way he pitched in the big leagues, where his career ERA was 4.69 despite electric stuff.

Mexican Pacific League: Naranjeros de Hermosillo 7, Mayos de Navojoa 1

Three ex-Rays in this one, but nothing too exciting going on here. Jorge Cantu and Humberto Cota went 0 for 2 with 2 walks and a run scored for Hermosillo, with Cota also driving in a run, while Wes Bankston went 0 for 3 with a walk. If you’re keeping score, that’s a .000 batting average among the three but a .385 on-base percentage. Cota is hitting just .211 but is tied for 10th in the league with 20 walks.

Yaquis de Obregon 6, Venados de Mazatlan 4

Iker Franco stayed blisteringly hot, going 1 for 3 with a double, a walk, an RBI, and 2 runs scored. He has a .414/.470/.793 line in his last 10 games with 2 doubles, 3 homers, 9 RBI, and 6 strikeouts against 6 walks, raises his average on the season from .211 to .267 in the process.

Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League (Puerto Rico): Criollos de Caguas 5, Gigantes de Carolina 4

For the second straight start, Scott Kazmir struggled in the first inning. This time, he could not recover to get his outing back together. Kazmir was disastrous early on, walking 3 in the first inning on his way to allowing 3 runs. He did pitch well the rest of his outing, allowing just 2 hits and 1 run over the next 4 innings, but his final line was not so good. Kazmir went 5 innings allowing 4 runs on 4 hits, striking out 4 while walking 4 and posting a 6-9 groundball to flyball ratio. Not everything was so bad- for instance, listen to the run-scoring hits against Kazmir: a bloop 2-run single and an infield single to first base. Kazmir was also starting on 9 days’ rest after a rainout and that had to play a factor in throwing him off. Kazmir has to find a way to come out stronger in the first inning, but his stuff is getting back up to par and hopefully this start can be a learning experience for him. Jesus Feliciano also appeared in this game for Carolina, going 2 for 4 with a walk and an RBI.

Venezuelan Winter League: Leones de Caracas 4, Bravos de Margarita 2

No Henry Wrigley again for Caracas as a stomach ailment continues to bother him. Daniel Mayora did get into the game for Caracas, going 1 for 3 with a double, a walk, and 2 runs scored, and Sean Burroughs went 1 for 3 with a walk for Margarita. Victor Zambrano made an appeared for Caracas but had a rough time out, allowing a run in just a third of an inning, striking out 1 but walking 3.

Navegantes de Magallanes 12, Tigres de Aragua 4

Erold Andrus was the only Rays-related player to start for Magallanes, going 1 for 5 with an RBI and a run scored. Leslie Anderson has apparently fallen out of favor with the club (having no power and no patience can do that). But the story of this game was Chris Nowak, who pinch-hit for Mario Lisson in the 4th inning and ended up with 4 plate appearances in the game, going 2 for 4 with 2 homers and 3 RBI, with the first being a go-ahead solo shot in the 6th inning to make it 4-3 Magallanes and the latter topping off the scoring for the Navegantes. Nowak, coming off a big season at Independent Ball, is having a big season for the Navegantes, posting a .303/.436/.551 line with 4 doubles, 6 homers, 15 RBI, and 17 strikeouts against 16 walks in 28 games. The Navegantes may want to consider starting him. Nowak may be positioning himself for a minor league offer from a big league team, and given the Rays’ need at first base, they might be an option for him after he spent 6 and a half years in their organization from 2004 to 2010.