The St. Louis Cardinals added four players to their 40-man roster today, one of those spots formerly belonging to pitcher Tim Cooney, who was claimed off waivers by the Cleveland Indians.
Drafted in the 3rd round of 2012, Cooney only appeared in six games for the Cardinals and allowed 11 earned runs on 28 hits in 31.1 innings pitched in 2015.
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Due to shoulder issues, Cooney did not pitch in 2016 but had been throwing and working out at the Cardinals facility in Jupiter, Florida as recently as a couple of weeks ago.
Added to the roster were outfielder Magneuris Sierra, infielder Eliezer Alvarez, infielder Edmundo Sosa and right-handed reliever Rowan Wick.
A converted catcher, Wick just recently finished up in the Arizona Fall League after having an All-Star campaign at Palm Beach (A+).
Alvarez, Sierra, and Sosa were All-Stars this past season for Peoria (A) in the Midwest League.
The Cardinals also announced they have signed OF/1B Chad Huffman, OF Todd Cunningham, INF Wilfredo Tovar, LHP Zach Phillips, and RHP Kendry Flores to minor league contracts which include invites to Major Spring Training.
The 31-year old Huffman appeared in nine games for the New York Yankees in 2010. A right-handed hitter, he hit .286 with 17 HR and 70 RBIs for Toledo (AAA-DET) last season.
Cunningham hit .148 (4-27) in 20 games for the Los Angeles Angels last year.
Tovar made his ML debut with the New York Mets in 2013 and has 22 plate appearances (3-18, .160). He played 125 games at shortstop for Rochester (AAA-MIN) last year but also has experience at second base.
After not pitching in the big leagues for two seasons, Phillips had 6.2 innings in 8 games for Pittsburgh last year. He allowed a pair of runs and struck out six batters during that stint.
Flores threw 3.0 innings of 1-hit ball for Miami last year and made 16 starts (3-6) for the Marlins Triple-A affiliate in New Orleans.
photo credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
