James Baldwin Agrees to Minor League Contract With Blue Jays

The Toronto Blue Jays have announced that the club has signed three players to Minor League deals for the 2006 season: Major League veteran pitcher James Baldwin, pitcher Matt Duff and catcher Jeremy Frost.

Baldwin, a 34 year-old right-handed pitcher, has appeared in 266 Major League games over eleven seasons and has a record of 79-74. His best year came for the Chicago White Sox in 2000 when he started the season 7-0, was the winning pitcher in the Major League All-Star game played in Atlanta, and finished the season with a career high 14 wins (14-7).

Last season, Baldwin went 3-2 with a 4.60 ERA in eight starts for the Ottawa Lynx before being promoted to the parent Baltimore Orioles, where he appeared in 12 games before being claimed on waivers by the Texas Rangers. He was 0-2 with one save in eight appearances for the Rangers before being claimed back on waivers by Baltimore where he finished the season. In his two stints with the Orioles, Baldwin was 0-0 with a 3.20 ERA in twenty appearances.

Baldwin was originally drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the fourth round of the 1990 draft and has also appeared in Major League games for the Los Angeles Dodgers ('01), Seattle Mariners ('02), Minnesota Twins ('03) and New York Mets ('04).

Duff, a 31 year-old right-handed pitcher, was 5-0 with a 3.51 ERA in 15 appearances for the SkyChiefs last season before having season ending Tommy John Surgery. He has a career Minor League record of 47-31 and a 3.15 ERA over 358 appearances. Duff appeared in seven games for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2002, going 0-0 with a 4.76 ERA.

Frost, a 25 year-old catcher, spent all of the 2005 season with the St. Paul Saints in the Independent Northern League hitting .278 with 17 HR and 49 runs batted in. He was originally drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 10th round of the 2002 draft and spent three seasons in their Minor League system before being released after the 2004 season.