Arizona Diamondbacks sign minor-league filler: Tim Stauffer, Jason Bourgeois and more

Probably the best known player among them is veteran reliever Tim Stauffer, who has spent part of ten seasons in the majors - almost all of it in the National League West with the San Diego Padres, for whom he was the 4th overall pick in the 2003 draft  However, they let him go after the 2014 season, and he saw action this year with both the Minnesota Twins and the New York Mets, sandwiching a stint with the indy ball  Sugar Land Skeeters. The major-league results weren't great, the 33-year-old putting up a 6.97 ERA over 18 games and 20.2 innings. The right-handed Stauffer has a career ERA+ of 92, over a total of 201 appearances

Jason Bourgeois is another name you might recognize. He has eight years experience, though the outfielder has averaged less than 40 games per year. He has certainly been nomadic: the Diamondbacks will be his 10th different organization since being drafted by the Rangers in the second round of the 2000 draft. That includes three before reaching the majors, and the six different clubs for which he has played after making his MLB debut in 2008 for the White Sox. Most recently, Bourgeois was with the Reds, hitting .240/.294/.332 over 68 games and 212 plate appearances. He was the butt of some derision in August, after forgetting how the infield-fly rule works.

To catch up on a couple of other minor-league transactions, we also picked up Scott Rice and Joaquin Arias. Rice is another former first-round pick who had a forgettable career - it's almost like they aren't certain to be All Stars or something! He finally made it to the majors at age 31 with the Mets in 2013, and had an 86 ERA+ over a total of 105 relief appearances for New York in 2013-14. The name of veteran infielder  Arias is one you may know too, since he was part of the Giants' World Series winning team in 2012 and 2014, and has an 80 OPS+ over his eight years in the big leagues. Though this year, he managed to appear in 40 games without drawing a single walk.

You'll be forgiven for not getting particularly pumped about these acquisitions. If any of the players appear in the majors for the Diamondbacks, it's likely an indication that something has gone pear-shaped for us, in terms of health and/or player performance. But in terms of roster filler and potential replacements in the event of injury, you could do worse that have some players with major-league experience.