Royals Ink Backstop Lerud To Minor League Contract
Published on December 7, 2009 under Texas League (TL1)
Northwest Arkansas Naturals News Release
KANSAS CITY, MO - The Kansas City Royals have signed catcher Steve Lerud to a minor league contract, according to Dick Kaegel, the Royals' beat reporter for MLB.com.
The 25-year old Lerud has been in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization since being taken in the fourth round of the 2003 First-Year Player Draft. In six Minor League seasons, he has posted a.228 average with 42 home runs and 224 RBIs in 519 games.
Last season with the Altoona Curve, the Pirates' Double-A affiliate in the Eastern League, the left-handed-hitting Lerud batted.240 with four homers and 26 RBIs in 95 games. Defensively, he threw out 37 of 136 would-be base-stealers (27 percent), with 15 passed balls and six errors.
Lerud was a member of the Pirates' 40-man winter roster last off-season and was a non-roster invitee to the Pirates' Major League Camp this past spring. He has not played a regular season game above the Double-A level, however, making him a candidate to see time in a Naturals uniform in 2010.
He will compete with a backlog of several catchers for spots both with the Naturals and Triple-A Omaha. The Royals signed veteran Triple-A backstop Edwin Bellorin to a minor league contract last month, and resigned Naturals' catcher Cody Clark as well as eight-year Major League veteran Vance Wilson to minor league contracts. Catcher Manny Pina, who played with Frisco most of 2009 but was acquired in a September trade, was added to the club's 40-man roster, while catcher Jeff Howell, who spent all of 2009 in Northwest Arkansas, remains in the organization. Pina and Wilson, a non-roster invitee, will report to Major League Camp, while Bellorin and Clark are also likely to receive spring invites before camp opens in February.
The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are the Double-A Texas League affiliate of the Kansas City Royals and play at state-of-the-art Arvest Ballpark, located in Springdale. The 2010 season begins on Thursday, April 8th. Visit our website, nwanaturals.com, for information on season tickets and ticket plans.
Texas League Stories from December 7, 2009
- Royals Ink Backstop Lerud To Minor League Contract - Northwest Arkansas Naturals
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