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Roger Mooney

Roger Mooney covers the Tampa Bay 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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Rays invite two more to spring training

Posted Dec 18, 2009 by Roger Mooney

Updated Dec 18, 2009 at 02:49 PM

The Rays signed infielder Joe Dillon and first baseman Ryan Shealy to minor league contracts with invites to major league spring training.

Here is the release from the Rays ...

Dillon, 34, appeared in 15 games for the Rays last season as a designated hitter, third baseman and second baseman. He hit .300 (9-for-30) for Tampa Bay with one home run and two RBI. He was a member of the Rays active roster for 62 games, from May 26 through August 7. In 35 games for Durham (AAA), he hit .244 (30-for-123) and spent time at all four infield positions. A right-handed hitter, Dillon was acquired from the Oakland Athletics on May 9 as the player to be named in exchange for infielder Adam Kennedy. He owns a career .263 batting average over parts of four major league seasons with the Florida Marlins (2005), Milwaukee Brewers (2007-08) and Rays (2009).

Shealy, 30, hit .345 (30-for-87) with seven doubles, 12 RBI, 18 walks and a .454 on-base percentage for the Omaha Royals (AAA), but did not play after May 8 due to a knee injury. He has played parts of four seasons in the majors with the Colorado Rockies (2005-06) and Kansas City Royals (2006-08), hitting a combined .271 (146-for-538) with 19 homers, 94 RBI and 26 doubles in 164 games. Over parts of eight minor league seasons, he owns a .311 average with 132 homers runs, a .401 on-base percentage and .564 slugging percentage.

Shealy, a right-handed hitter, played two seasons for the University of Florida, where he ranks fourth in school history with 39 career home runs. During his senior season (2002), he hit .379 with 23 homers and set single-season Gator records in RBI (80) and total bases (186). He is a 1998 graduate of Cardinal Gibbons High School in Fort Lauderdale.