Rockies announce non-roster players for 2012 Spring Training

DENVER - The Colorado Rockies announced today the club's non-roster players for this year's Major League Spring Training camp.  Below is the current list of 21 players, broken down by position.

        Pitchers (9)                    Infielders (5)                      Outfielders (3)               Catchers (4)
        Chad Bettis                    Nolan Arenado                  Andrew Brown              Wilkin Castillo (S)
        Stephen Dodson          Brendan Harris                  Kent Matthes                Lars Davis (L)
        Mike Ekstrom                 Ben Paulsen (L)                Tim Wheeler (L)         Matt McBride
        Joe Gardner                   Chad Tracy                                                               Wil Nieves
        Dustin Molleken             Brandon Wood                                                                    
        Jamie Moyer (L)                                                                                                               
        Rob Scahill                            
        Josh Sullivan
        Carlos Torres                         
        
Three of the nine pitchers invited to Major League camp have previous Major League experience, including veteran left-handed pitcher Jamie Moyer (22.126 MLB service time, most of any player in camp), RHP Carlos Torres (0.071) and RHP Mike Ekstrom (0.130). Four of the nine pitchers to receive an invite were either originally drafted or signed by the Rockies as an amateur, including Chad Bettis, Stephen Dodson, Rob Scahill and Josh Sullivan. Joe Gardner was acquired from Cleveland in the trade that sent Ubaldo Jimenez to the Indians and Dustin Molleken was signed as a Minor League free agent prior to the 2011 season. Bettis, Dodson, Gardner, Molleken, Scahill and Sullivan will be participating in their first Major League camp.

Colorado's list of five non-roster infielders includes two players with Major League experience in Brendan Harris (4.022) and Brandon Wood (3.015). Two players, in Nolan Arenado and Ben Paulsen, were originally drafted by Colorado. Paulsen will enter his second Major League Spring Training while 2012 marks Arenado's first trip to big league camp. Chad Tracy joins the Rockies Major League camp for the first time since being acquired this offseason from Texas and will enter his third-straight Major League Spring Training.

Of the three non-roster outfielders only Andrew Brown (0.015) has Major League service time. Tim Wheeler, who will be joining Major League Spring Training for his second-straight season, and Kent Matthes, who enters his first big league camp, were both originally drafted by Colorado.

Two of the four Rockies non-roster invites at catcher have Major League experience. Wilkin Castillo (0.146) and Wil Nieves (4.169) are both Minor League free agent signings that join the Rockies organization for the first time. Matt McBride joins the Rockies for his first Major League Spring Training after being acquired by the Indians in the Ubaldo Jimenez trade. Lars Davis enters his first big league camp and was originally drafted by the Rockies.

Pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report on Sunday, Feb. 19. The first full squad workout is Monday, Feb. 27.