Diamondbacks Non-Roster Invitees: A 2013 Viewer's Guide, Part Three

Ed Easley

A first-round pick in 2007, but only technically - in a year full of compensation picks, he was chosen 61st, which would have been the third round, if not for the comps. That pick came to the D-backs through the loss of Miguel Batista. Now aged 27, he still has less than 20 appearances above Double-A, and those were back in 2010, so time seems to be running out. Back in 2008, it was said of him, "Ed Easley is either one of the better offensive catching prospects in the game or a defensive liability whose career will stall once he is moved to third base." I dunno about the latter, but with a career .335 SLG, the former doesn't seem to have materialized.

Factoid to drop in: In 2007, Easley won the Johnny Bench award given to the best collegiate catcher, beating out Matt Wieters and some guy called "Posey"...

Tuffy Gosewisch

Though born in Illinois, Gosewisch attended both high-school and college in Arizona, going first to Horizon in Scottsdale, then Arizona State, where he was part of the team which reached the semi-finals of the College World Series in 2005. Has spent eight seasons in the minors, splitting time last year between the Triple-A affiliates of the Phillies and Blue Jays. He was also on the United States national baseball team in the 2011 Pan American Games, taking home a silver medal. Roy Halladay pitched to Gosewisch last spring and was impressed, saying "He's smart, he tries hard, he receives the ball well...He uses information. He's a pitcher's dream. He really is."

Factoid to drop in: Real name is James Benjamin Gosewisch. The nickname was supposedly given to him by his parents, either because they were expecting a girl named Tiffany, or (I suspect more likely) he was a particularly destructive infant. Still, you decide...

Rossmel Perez

Perez seems to have been around for ever, but that's because he was signed by the Diamondbacks at the age of 16 - he's still only 23, so the fact last season was his first above A-ball isn't necessarily concerning. Not exactly a power hitter, he didn't hit his first homer until his fifth minor-league season. Spent part of this winter in the Venezuelan Winter League, appearing in 14 games with two teams. Triggered this brawl in July, near the end of a game for Mobile against the Mississippi Braves, when he scored from third on a wild pitch and took out the opposing pitcher, who was covering home. He was suspended for three games as a result.

Factoid to drop in: Does have an active Twitter account (over a thousand Tweets), but a lot of it is in Spanish.

Mark Reed

Has been in the minor leagues since 2004, mostly with the Cubs, who picked him out of high school in the third round of that year's draft. It wasn't until 2011 that he rose above Double-A, after he came to the Diamondbacks, appearing in four games with Reno that season. He was also a backup catcher for the Aces last season, but was released by the team in July. However, Reed then filled in as bullpen catcher with the big-league club, after regular guy Jeff Motuzas underwent shoulder surgery [hopefully, Reed didn't have to go to the same extremes as Motuzas to make some extra cash!]. Re-signed with Arizona in December.

Factoid to drop in: His big brother is Jeremy Reed, a centerfielder who played eight seasons in the majors, from 2004-11, and who also signed a minor-league contract with us this winter.