Wright earns his spot

When his back is against the wall, Jamey Wright is always prepared to come out swinging. Or, more specifically, pitching.

For the seventh straight season, Wright has earned his way onto a Major League team out of Spring Training as a non-roster invitee. He'll earn $900,000 this year with a possible $500,000 more in incentives based on appearances.

On the flip side, John Grabow was given his outright release after being told he would not make the team. Wright's spot on the 40-man roster was cleared when Blake Hawksworth was placed on the 60-day DL. He's been hampered by a sore elbow and staph infection, and will need about six weeks to regain his strength once he's ready to throw. In other words, don't expect to see him for awhile.

As for Wright, it's pretty stunning that he's been able to make team after team despite never really having a solid contract to fall back on. He's pitched in the bigs since 1996 when he broke in with the Rockies. Since then, he's pitched for the Brewers, Cardinals, Royals, Rockies again, Giants, Rangers, Royals again, Indians, and Mariners for the last two seasons. Hopefully he's been able to rent and not buy.

On his career, he's appeared in 526 games with 246 starts. He's 85-121 with a 4.93 ERA and 1.56 WHIP. Those numbers aren't exactly pretty, but he has turned things around quite well as a reliever the last two seasons in Seattle, with a 3.41/1.24 in 2010, and 3.16/1.33 in 2011. That's more like it.

According to Don Mattingly, Wright will fill the role once played by Jeff Weaver, which is like a long reliever and spot starter. Who knows, maybe even some short innings as well. With the way the Dodgers went through injuries last year, Wright could find himself to be in a very valuable position.