The Rockies have signed 29-year old righty starter/reliever Carlos Torres to a minor league deal. Torres pitched in 6 games (all starts) for Yomiuri in Japan last year and he was 1-2 with a 6.26 ERA and a 1.54 WHIP. He last pitched in the majors in 2010 with the White Sox. He has now pitched in 13 games (6 starts) in his first two years in the majors and he is 1-3 with a 6.86 ERA and a 1.88 WHIP. Torres will likely start the 2012 season in AAA for the Rockies.

The Rockies have signed 38-year old righty swinging 3B Casey Blake to a 1-year, $2 million dollar deal. Blake played in 63 games for the Dodgers last year and he was 51 for 202 (.252 avg, .713 OPS) with 32 runs scored, 4 homers, 26 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He has now played in 1,265 games in his first 13 years in the majors and he is 1,186 of 4,500 (.264 avg, .778 OPS) with 644 runs scored, 167 homers, 616 RBIs and 36 stolen bases. Blake will get a shot to compete for the starting 3B job for the Rockies next spring.

The Rockies have signed 34-year old righty swinging catcher Wil Nieves. Nieves played in 20 games for the Brewers last year and he was 7 for 50 (.140 avg, .369 OPS) with 2 runs scored. Nieves has now played in 282 games in his first 8 years in the majors and he is 166 for 751 (.221 avg, .557 OPS) with 55 runs scored, 5 homers, 73 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Nieves will get a shot next spring to win the backup catcher job for the Rockies, but, he will likely start the season in AAA.

The Rockies have signed 27-year old switch-hitting catcher/infielder Wilkin Castillo to a minor league deal. Castillo played in 80 games in AAA-ball for the Braves last year and he was 73 for 279 (.262 avg, .650 OPS) with 19 runs scored, 5 homers, 37 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. He last played in the majors back in 2009 for the Reds. Castillo has played in 22 games in his first two years in the majors and he is 11 for 35 (.314 avg, .676 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 0 homers and 2 RBIs. Castillo’s versatility in the field (he can play everywhere), might get him to Coors Field and the Rockies at some point in 2012.

The Rockies have signed 32-year old righty swinging OF/1B Michael Cuddyer to a 3-year, $31.5 million dollar deal. Cuddyer played in 139 games for the Twins last year and he was 150 for 529 (.284 avg, .805 OPS) with 70 runs scored, 20 homers, 70 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. He has now played in 1,139 games in his first 11 years in the majors and he is 1,106 of 4,072 (.272 avg, .794 OPS) with 606 runs scored, 141 homers, 580 RBIs and 52 stolen bases. It will be interesting to see when Cuddyer plays in the field. I would think that most of his time would come in the outfield, but he will be able to give Todd Helton a rest whenever he needs one.