Veteran right-hander Ian Snell, who said he was retiring after he failed to make the Cardinals this spring, signed a minor league contract with the Dodgers on Wednesday.
Snell was reassigned to minor league camp by the Cardinals on March 15 after giving up two runs in two innings during Grapefruit League play. The 29-year-old right-hander was 0-5 with a 6.41 ERA in eight starts and four relief appearances for the Mariners last season.
Utilizing a 91-95 mph fastball and a plus slider, Snell went 14-11 with a 4.74 ERA for the Pirates in 2006 and 9-12 with a 3.76 ERA in 2007, striking out 346 batters between the two season.
Unfortunately, his command regressed from there, he lost a little bit off his fastball and he never did come up with a quality third pitch. In 191 1/3 innings during 2009 and 2010, he had just about as many walks (108) as strikeouts (115).
The Dodgers could use some starting pitching depth, so they’ll stash him away in Triple-A and see what happens. Odds are that not much will come of it.
