Roger Mooney covers the Rays for The Tampa Tribune, TBO.com and News Channel 8. He has covered the Rays since their first season in 1998, including 11 years for the Bradenton Herald. Roger has also covered Florida, South Florida and Florida State football, the Bucs and the Lightning.
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Posted Feb 2, 2010 by Roger Mooney
Updated Feb 2, 2010 at 10:37 AM
Joe Nelson attended the baseball winter meetings in Indianapolis last December and was a familiar face in the hotel lobby as he tried to arrange meetings with general managers in a quest to find work this season.
Looks like the effort paid off.
The former Ray signed a minor league deal Monday with the Boston Red Sox and will have a chance to make the team during spring training.
Nelson, who signed a one-year, $1.3 million contract with Tampa Bay in December of 2008, appeared in 42 games for the Rays last season. He was 3-0 with three saves but was optioned to Triple A Durham on Aug. 1 to make room for Jeff Bennett. He was then designated for assignment on Sept. 1 to make room on the 40-man roster for Sean Rodriguez, who was acquired from the Angels in the Scott Kazmir trade.
Nelson’s oft-injured, oft-traveled career made for interesting copy during spring training as did his unusual “Vulcan” grip on his change-up. He quickly became the spokesman for the bullpen during the regular season.
But his habit of allowing home runs (seven) and an 8.53 ERA in 12 2/3 appearances in May derailed his time with the Rays.
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