The New York Mets have signed right-handed pitcher Miguel Socolovich to a minor league deal after he spent last year in Japan.
A short while ago, the Mets announced that they have signed Venezuelan right-handed pitcher Miguel Socolovich to a minor league deal. The 27-year-old Socolovich pitched this season with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp after making his major league debut in 2012 with the Orioles.
Signed in 2004 as an international free agent, Socolovich came into the minors in 2006, and had spent every year of his career in the minor leagues until the Orioles called him up in 2012. After pitching 10.1 innings in six appearances with the Orioles to the tune of a 6.97 ERA, he was designated for assignment. He was then claimed off waivers by the Cubs, where he made six more appearances, compiling a 4.50 ERA. After the season, he decided to go to Japan, where he pitched in 11 games, for a grand total of 11.1 innings as a reliever with a 0.79 ERA.
This is a minor signing for the Mets. Socolovich reportedly has always had good stuff, but he was derailed by injuries in the early part of his career. He has a propensity for striking people out, having notched 204 strikeouts in 188.2 minor league innings—9.73 per nine innings—almost exclusively at Triple-A from 2010 through 2012. Perhaps the Mets see this as a high-upside move for a guy who could provide bullpen value sometime next year.