Atlantic League
NEWARK, NJ, Mar. 26-The defending Atlantic League Champion Newark Bears announced today that the club has re-signed right-handed pitchers Edwin Almonte and Matt Sweeney to contracts for the 2008 season. Almonte and Sweeney will report to the club when the Bears open spring training in Newark on April 12th.
Almonte will be entering his 10th season in professional baseball, his second season with the Bears. The former Major Leaguer posted a 2-5 record, 58.1 innings pitched, and 2.62 ERA while appearing in 44 games, with 9 saves in 2007 for Newark. The veteran Almonte ranked second on the club in games pitched and in games saved.
The 30 year-old Almonte was originally selected by the Chicago White Sox in the 26th round of the 1998 draft, and he has spent time in both the Major League and Triple-A levels. After being traded to the New York Mets in July of 2003 in the Roberto Alomar deal, Almonte reached the big leagues, appearing in 12 games for the Mets that same season.
Almonte's best year was in 2001 while playing for Birmingham of the Southern League where he posted a 1.49 ERA, and led the league in saves with 36 and was 4th in games pitched (54), and was also selected to the Southern League All-Star team as a reliever. In his career, he has compiled a 30-46 record in 387 appearances as both a starter and reliever with a 3.48 ERA and 508 strikeouts.
Sweeney returns to the Bears this season after a brief stint with the club in 2007. The right-hander from Yardville, NJ began the '07 campaign with the Bears before his contract sold to the Houston Astros organization. He ended the year with the Salem Avalanche of the Carolina League in the Single-A level. While with Salem, he posted a 2-1 record in 20 appearances with 39.1 innings pitched while having 19 strikeouts during his tenure with the team.
The 24 year-old Sweeney is entering his 8th season in professional baseball and 2nd with the Newark Bears. He was originally selected by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 11th round of the 2001 draft. While spending half the year with the Bears in 2007, Sweeney posted a 5-3 record with a 4.35 ERA while making 10 starts. He was selected as the Atlantic League's Pitcher of the Month in the month of May a year ago.
The Bears open up defense of their 2007 Atlantic League Championship on Friday, April 25th against the Long Island Ducks before playing their home opener on Tuesday, April 29th at 7:05PM against the Bridgeport Bluefish at Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium. Bears ticket information may be obtained by calling 1-866-55-4BEAR and by logging on to the team's official website,
newarkbears.com: Home.
TRANSACTIONS:
NEWARK BEARS (Atlantic League): Signed RHP Edwin Almonte and RHP Matt Sweeney