Lefty signed

The Wild Things continued their run of signings by adding pitcher Nick Cicio, a 5-9, 170-pound lefty from Baltimore, Md. Cicio was signed as a nondrafted free agent last summer by the Minnesota Twins after finishing his college career at Central Florida.

This is a signing that intrigues me. Cicio played two seasons at Central Florida and had a good senior year out of the bullpen with a 4-3 record and 2.23 ERA and four saves. He struck out 56 batters in 60.2 innings. Cicio also led the Golden Knights in appearances with 28.

Those are excellent numbers when you consider he pitched in Conference USA, which is a very under-rated league, better than some of the "BCS" conferences. One of Cicio's losses was in the NCAA tournament against Alabama, but he gave up only one run in five innings in that game.

Cico then put up good numbers in the rookie-level Gulf Coast League for the Twins. Though I've written about rookie league stats not giving a good indication of a player's ability in the Frontier League, Cicio's statistics make you wonder why he wasn't kept around by the Twins and invited to minor-league spring training. He pitched in 13 games and had a 2-0 record, gave up less than one hit per inning and struck out 20 batters in 20.2 innings. The most impressive statistic is Cico walked only two hitters. That should be enough to keep you in the organization for a few more months.

Remember the post about Jared Howton and the All-Decade Team? There's an interesting comment in there about left-handers who throw strikes, which is why Cicio is one of the most interesting players the Wild Things have signed this offseason.