In the shadows of the 2013 World Baseball Classic the Italian Baseball League club Telemarket Rimini added a pair of reinforcements for the upcoming season. 30-year-old Minnesota native Andrew Baldwin is supposed to strengthen the foreign pitching for the Pirates besides the returning Enorbel Marquez-Ramirez. Baldwin got drafted in the fifth round by the Philadelphia Phillies in 2004 and has been pitching in professional baseball since.
Baldwin didn’t reach the Majors with the Phillies or later the Seattle Mariners and Minnesota Twins, but managed to get to Triple-A. In 2012 he played in the Mexican League. Overall he has a 61-81 record with an ERA of 4.68 in 242 games – 143 of them in Triple-A. He is considered a workhorse, having pitched in 1268 1/3 innings throughout his career in the Minors. He also is no stranger to the Venezuela winter league.
Additionally Rimini is bolstering the offense with the likes of Ramon Castro. The 33-year-old Venezuelan looks back at nine Major League games for the Oakland Athletics in 2004. The third baseman and shortstop otherwise has a .287/.372/.433 batting line through 1353 games in affiliated and independent leagues in North America. He came up with the Atlanta Braves organizations and later also was part of the A’s, Washington Nationals and San Francisco Giants. In 2012 he played for York in the Atlantic League, batting .288/.359/.449 with 14 home runs, 61 runs and 67 RBI in 105 games.