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In the interest of speed and timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain spelling or grammatical errors.
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Anderson, Kelly fail to make Padres
Thursday March 27, 2003
PEORIA, Ariz. (AP) Outfielders Brady Anderson and Roberto
Kelly failed to make the San Diego Padres as non-roster invitees.
Kelly, 38, asked for and was granted his release as the Padres
broke camp on Thursday. Anderson, 39, accepted assignment to
Triple-A Portland.
The Padres chose to carry only five outfielders, including Shane
Victorino, who must remain on the big-league roster all season or
be offered back to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
``I understand the situation,'' Anderson said.
Anderson is attempting to revive his career after batting .163
for Cleveland last season and getting released in May. He did not
seek another job after his release because he sustained an
Achilles' injury while working out on his own.
But he said he felt good this spring, despite a .196 batting
average, and wants to continue to play.
``I feel great,'' he said. ``I felt comfortable enough at the
plate. I'm running and throwing well.''
The Padres loaded up veteran non-roster invitees like Kelly,
Anderson and pitcher Charles Nagy. But infielder Keith Lockhart was
the only one to stick. The Padres purchased Lockhart's contract on
Thursday.
The only undecided roster spot is the backup catcher, where Wiki
Gonzalez and Michael Rivera are the options behind starter Gary
Bennett. It could go to Rivera by default since Gonzalez has missed
several days with back problems that manager Bruce Bochy said could
require a trip to the disabled list.
Bochy selected right-handed rookie Clay Condrey to be the No. 5
starter, relegating rookie left-hander Mike Bynum to the bullpen.
Coming into camp, it appeared the final starting spot would go
to either Francisco Cordova or Kevin Jarvis. But Cordova posted an
11.66 ERA and was released, and Jarvis did not recover from last
season's elbow surgery and was placed on the disabled list.
Condrey, 26, was 1-2 with a 1.69 ERA in nine games, including
three starts, last season. He went 10-4 with a 3.50 ERA in 25 games
at Portland to earn the promotion.
``We hope Clay makes 30, 35 starts for us this year,'' Bochy
said. ``He's got four pitches, he's got command and he competes
very well.''
Also Thursday, the Padres reassigned infielder Oscar Robles to
Mexico City of the Mexican summer league. He went 0-for-15 after
his rights were acquired from the Oaxaca Guerreros.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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