Novara Baseball
The new Italian Baseball League club Novara Baseball has signed utility man Franklin Tavarez. Born in the Dominican Republic the 22-year-old has a Spanish passport and has played in the Division de Honor in the past few years. He was supposed to go to the Astros Valencia, but decided to join the IBL team instead. Both clubs reached an agreement according to a report by Baseball.it. Tavarez played for the Tenerife Marlins Puerto Cruz last year, batting .348/.437/.573 with four homeruns, eight doubles, 27 runs and 20 RBI in just 22 games. He was named MVP after the 2008 21U European Championship.
Grosseto Orioles
The Italian Baseball League club from Grosseto might have found a replacement for the former Major Leaguers Abraham Nunez (doesn’t want to) and Tomas Perez (elbow injury), who won’t come to Italy after all. They are interested in Luis Maza, a 30-year-old Venezuelan infielder who played 45 games in the MLB for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2008. However since the Orioles haven’t resolved their sponsorship issues (Monte dei Paschi has reduced its budget for Grosseto) yet, a contract hasn’t been signed. They are not in a hurry since they also could use veteran Jhonny Carvajal in the infield. Maza has a batting line of .282/.345/.411 in 1,091 minor league games since 1999. Last year he was on the roster of the Triple-A affiliates for the Houston Astros and Philadelphia Phillies.