The Diamondbacks have re-signed 35-year old righty swinging 3B Cody Ransom to a minor league deal. Ransom played in 12 games for the Diamondbacks last year and he was 5 for 33 (.152 avg, .546 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 1 homer, 4 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He has now played in 231 games in his first 9 years in the majors and he is 74 for 337 (.220 avg, .687 OPS) with 61 runs scored, 10 homers, 43 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. Ransom will get a shot to win a bench job for the Diamondbacks next spring.

The Diamondbacks have acquired 24-year old righty starting pitcher Trevor Cahill and 31-year old lefty reliever Craig Breslow for 23-year old righty starting pitcher Jarrod Parker, 25-year old righty swinging outfielder Collin Cowgill and 24 year old righty reliever Ryan Cook. Cahill pitched in 34 games (all starts) for the A’s last year and he was 12-14 with a 4.16 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP. He has now pitched in 96 games (all starts) in his first three years in the majors and he is 40-35 with a 3.91 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP. Cahill will likely slot as the D-Backs’ #3 starter in 2012 behind Ian Kennedy and Daniel Hudson. Craig Breslow pitched in 67 games (0 starts) for the A’s last year and he was 0-2 with a 3.79 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP. He has now pitched in 295 games (0 starts) in his first six years in the majors and he is 12-17 with 6 saves, a 3.06 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP. The Diamondbacks have needed a good lefty reliever for quite some time and they got one now in Breslow.

Jarrod Parker came into last season as the Diamondbacks’ #1 prospect according to Baseball America. He pitched in 1 game (1 start) for the Diamondbacks last year and he was 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 0.88 WHIP. Parker also pitched in 26 games (all starts) in AA-ball for the Diamondbacks last year and he was 11-8 with a 3.79 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP. 25-year old righty swinging Collin Cowgill came into last year as the D-Backs’ #18 prospect according to Baseball America. Cowgill played in 36 games for the Diamondbacks last year and he was 22 for 92 (.239 avg, .604 OPS) with 8 runs scored, 1 homer, 9 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. He also played in 98 games in AAA-ball last year and he was 140 for 395 (.354 avg, .984 OPS) with 95 runs scored, 13 homers, 70 RBIs and 30 stolen bases. Ryan Cook pitched in 12 games (0 starts) for the Diamondbacks last year and he was 0-1 with a 7.04 ERA and a 2.48 WHIP. He also pitched in 48 games (0 starts) in AA+AAA-ball last year and he was 1-5 with 19 saves, a 2.21 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP.

The Diamondbacks gave up some decent prospects in this deal, but I still like it for them. They got a top of the rotation starting pitcher in Cahill and a much needed lefty reliever in Craig Breslow.

The Diamondbacks have signed 34-year old lefty reliever Jason Lane. Lane pitched in 6 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball last year and he was 0-0 with a 4.85 ERA and a 1.54 WHIP. He has now pitched in 13 games (0 starts) in his first four years in the minors and he is 0-0 with a 3.92 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP. Lane is just starting his conversion from the outfield. Righty swinging Jason Lane has played in 497 games in six years in the majors as an outfielder. He is 291 of 1,208 (.241 avg, .771 OPS) with 165 runs scored, 61 homers, 189 RBIs and 10 stolen bases.

The Diamondbacks have selected 24-year old righty starter/reliever Brett Lorin from the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Rule 5 Draft. Lorin pitched in 25 games (17 starts) in A-ball last year for the Pirates and he was 7-6 with 1 save, a 2.84 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP. He has now pitched in 76 games (63 starts) in his first four years in the minors and he is 18-16 with 1 save, a 3.03 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP. Lorin is going to have a really good shot this spring to win a job in the D-Backs’ bullpen this spring.

The Diamondbacks have re-signed 34-year old lefty swinging 1B Lyle Overbay to a 1-year, $1.1 million dollar deal. Overbay played in 18 games for the D-Backs last year and he was 12 for 42 (.286 avg, .840 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 1 homer, 10 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He played in 121 games overall for the D-Backs & Pirates last year and he was 92 for 394 (.234 avg, .670 OPS) with 43 runs scored, 9 homers, 47 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. He has now played in 1,259 games in his first 11 years in the majors and he is 1,158 of 4,283 (.270 avg, .793 OPS) with 566 runs scored, 131 homers, 571 RBIs and 15 stolen bases. Overbay will backup Paul Goldschmidt at 1B and provide the D-Backs with a nice lefty bat off the bench.