I’ve noted those 16 invited players on the Big Board in a lovely shade of yellow.
Also, the M’s apparently signed some lefty named Melvin Bizarro. I can’t find anything about him anywhere, other than that Baseball America is reporting he signed (Google literally returns only one hit, and it’s BA’s transactions page). In any event, I stuck him on the Inland Empire 66ers for the time being. More information if/when/as we get it.
BA also notes that the M’s released RHP Ruben Castillo. And that’s cool, except that Castillo is a shortstop who appeared in 110 games for the Rainiers last season. I thought they had signed him up for another year, although it makes sense that they don’t need him around, what with Jose Lopez and Luis Ugueto (not to mention Ramon Santiago) potentially needing middle infield jobs at AAA. I will note, however, that there is a RHP Ruben Castillo who pitched eight innings for Milwaukee’s rookie ball team this summer.
All of this points to how difficult it can be to get accurate information with respect to minor league transactions. And forget about timely — Baseball America publishes transactions on their website once a month during the off-season. My former favorite source, MILB.com, appears to have gotten rid of transactions (though this could be just an off-season thing).