Tampa Bay formally announced on Monday its first wave of minor league signings with invites to MLB Spring Training, including two catchers with big league experience. In addition to Chris Herrmann and Kevan Smith, the Rays have signed outfielder Ryan LaMarre, along with pitchers Aaron Slegers and DJ Snelten.

The additions give the Rays four catchers with MLB experience going into Spring Training, with Herrmann and Smith joining Michael Perez and Mike Zunino. The 32-year-old Herrmann has spent parts of the last eight seasons in the majors with the Minnesota Twins (2012–15), Arizona Diamondbacks (2016–17), Seattle Mariners (2018) and Oakland Athletics (2019). In his career, Herrmann has 25 HR, 103 RBI and a .626 OPS over 370 games. He also has played in the outfield and at first base. Herrmann, a sixth-round pick of the Twins out of Miami in 2009, hit a grand slam for Oakland last year off Jake Odorizzi.

The 31-year-old Smith has played in 213 games, 174 as a starter for the White Sox (2016–18) and the Los Angeles Angels (2019). In his career, Smith is a career .272 hitter (.699 OPS) with 12 home runs and 71 RBI. Last season, Smith hit .251 (.711 OPS) with the Angels with five home runs and 20 RBI in 67 games (51 starts). Smith was was on the injured list three times: May 22–June 6 (concussion), June 19–July 11 (left hand metacarpal sprain) and August 11–23 (lumbar strain). Originally drafted in the 7th round in 2011 by the White Sox out of the University of Pittsburgh, Smith also spent three seasons of football at Pitt. He passed for 202 yards in his first start at quarterback, breaking Dan Marino’s record for a Pitt freshman debut.

LaMarre, now 31, has been in the majors at some point over the past five seasons with the Cincinnati Reds (2015), Boston Red Sox (2016), Athletics (2017), Chicago White Sox (2018) and Twins (2018–19). In his career, LaMarre is a career .236 hitter (.624 OPS) with four home runs and 21 RBI over 119 games. LaMarre has played more than half of those games in center field. Last season, LaMarre was a September call up for the Twins, appearing in 14 games (seven starts) going 5-for-23 with two home runs. LaMarre hit .311 (.855 OPS) with nine homers and 53 RBI. LaMarre was selected by the Reds in the second round of the 2010 June Draft out of the University of Michigan.

The 27-year-old Slegers was one of 33 pitchers to appear for the Rays last year, spending much of the season with Durham. With the Bulls, Slegers was 6–7 with a 5.05 ERA in 26 appearances, 15 as a starter. He was acquired by the Rays from the Pittsburgh Pirates on March 30th of last season. The six-foot-10 righty made his only appearance for the Rays on August 23 at Baltimore, becoming the tallest player in franchise history, passing Jeff Niemann and Mark Hendrickson. Slegers became the sixth pitcher to record a save in his Rays debut. He also also pitched parts of two seasons in the majors with the Twins (2017–18) and is 1–2 with a 5.63 ERA (32-IP, 20-ER) in nine career appearances (five starts). The Twins drafted Slegers in the fifth round in 2013 out of Indiana University.

The 27-year-old Snelten was in independent baseball last year, going 7–3 with a 3.12 ERA for the Chicago Dogs in the American Association. Snelten made his MLB debut in 2018, pitching in four games, all in relief. Over six minor league seasons between the Giants and Baltimore Orioles organizations, he is 27–24 with a 3.31 ERA (410.1-IP, 151-ER) in 183 appearances (42 starts). Snelten was a ninth round pick in 2013 by the Giants out of Minnesota, where he was a first team All-Big Ten as a junior.

In addition, two players have agreed to minor league contracts without MLB invites in RHP Angel German and INF Conrad Gregor. Gregor is a 27-year-old who has been as high as Double-A and spent last year with New Jersey in the Can-Am League. German, a 23-year-old righty, spent last year in Double-A Altoona as a reliever, going 3–3 with a 4.33 ERA.