Two more signed

The Wild Things announced Tuesday the signings of catcher Steve Pickerell and infielder Michael Parker.

Pickerell will be counted on to do a significant amount of the catching while Kris Rochelle recovers from elbow surgery. Pickerell spent three seasons in the Tampa Bay Rays' system and played last year in the Frontier League with Rockford, hitting .273 in 33 at-bats before breaking a bone in his arm in June. The injury ended his season. Pickerell is classified as a Rookie by FL standards because he has only 134 career at-bats.

Parker comes out of the New York Mets' system. He played multiple positions during his two seasons with the Mets. In 2007, Parker batted .298 in the rookie-level Appalachian league but struggled last year, hitting only .190 between the Class A South Atlantic League and short-season New York-Penn League.

Pickerell is from Cincinnati and played at the University of Cincinnati. Parker is from Newton, Mass., and played at George Washington.

I suspect these will be the last of the newcomers to sign with the Wild Things until after the cuts at minor-league spring training. The next round of signings will be players from the 2008 team.