Yankees ink Weber

According to Newsday's Ken Davidoff, the New York Yankees have signed outfielder Jon Weber to a Triple-A contract.

Weber, 31, spent the entire season with Durham and was named their team M.V.P.

He tied for the overall minor league lead with 46 doubles and hit .302 (136-for-451) with 14 homers, 69 RBI, 63 runs, 56 walks, a .387 on-base pct. and .497 slugging pct. He ranked 10th in the IL in batting and tied for second in extra-base hits (60), one shy of the IL lead. Weber ranked fifth in the Rays' organization in batting and RBI, despite missing the final week of the season to play for Team USA in the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) World Cup held in Europe.

He was selected to the International League postseason All-Star team, his first All-Star honor since 2005.

Weber began his professional career in 1999 after being signed by the Cincinnati Reds as a non-drafted free agent. After just two seasons in the Reds' organization, he played the next three seasons in independent baseball before being signed by Oakland in 2003.

After stints in the Dodgers and Diamondbacks systems, he once again found himself back in independent baseball with Fargo-Moorhead to start the 2007 season. His stay was brief, however. On June 3, the Texas Rangers signed him to a contract, sending him to Class-A Bakersfield where he hit .356 before being traded to Tampa - his sixth organization. It was there that he started his run with Durham in the International League.

In three seasons with Durham, he hit .282 with 30 home runs and 141 RBI.

He is currently playing for Venados de Mazatlan in the Mexican winter league and is hitting .396 with 24 RBI in 22 games.

Webers 2009 Tampa Bay Rays media guide page can be found here.