I am going to spend today covering several smaller transactions that have slipped through the cracks.

The Kansas City Royals signed Bryan Rekar to a minor league deal on Sunday, adding another name to their list of possible starters. The 29-year-old righty is a control pitcher who relies heavily on a sinker-slider combination. He struggled again in 2001 for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays after a not-so-impressive career year in 2000. Rekar has never shown a lot of talent and will have to perform very well in spring training to overcome the competition for a slot at even the bottom of the rotation.

In mid-December, Rekar was released by Tampa Bay, where he played for the last three years. The Devil Rays rescued him from the purgatory of pitching in Colorado, where he spent the first three years of his career, when they selected him in the expansion draft.

Alberto Castillo was signed to a one-year, $650,000 contract by the New York Yankees last Friday. The deal looks slightly less ridiculous after learning of Jorge Posada's shoulder surgery, but considering Bobby Estalella and Todd Greene are already on the 40-man roster, this is a very dubious decision. Posada is expected to be able to participate in Spring Training and play on Opening Day, so there should now be three guys competing for the back-up job. Because Greene can play several other positions, the team may chose to keep three catchers on the roster, but that still leaves an odd man out. The clause in Castillo's contract that cuts his salary down to $300,000 if he's in the minors may come in handy, but he still has the edge in experience over Estalella.

The Yankees also agreed to a minor league deal with utilityman F.P. Santangelo, which will pay him $350,000 if he makes the roster. He could make the club coming out of Spring Training as a back-up but could also just as easily be kept at AAA in case of injury. General Manager Brian Cashman has indicated that these are likely some of the last signings that the Yankees will make, and that further potential additions will be made in the form of non-roster invitations to spring training.

Detroit picked up two decent players last week when they signed OF Jacob Cruz and RHP Juan Acevedo to minor league deals. Cruz, who was released by the Rockies in late-November, is one of the few outfield options the Tigers currently have to play centerfield and could make the roster as at least a back-up based on that qualification alone. Juan Acevedo has shown himself to be a decent reliever outside of Colorado and could be a good addition to their bullpen. The fact that they are both signed to minor league deals eliminates any real downside to their acquisitions by giving the club inexpensive options. The Tigers have also signed a number of other players to minor league contracts in the last couple of weeks, but none of them have a particularly good chance of breaking camp with the team.

Tony Graffanino signed a two-year, $1.25 million contract with the White Sox last Thursday. The thirty-year-old has been a good back-up infielder for the Sox, since he was picked up in a trade with Tampa Bay in mid-2000. He'll likely continue in that role in 2002. However, if the Sox decide to trade both Royce Clayton and Ray Durham, he would probably be a perfectly acceptable starter for one season. If the two sides had not reached an agreement, Graffanino would have been arbitration eligible; this contract should take him all the way to free agency. There are many worse ways in which the Sox could have spent this money.

Last Thursday, Tomas Perez signed a one-year $475,000 contract with the Philadelphia Phillies to back up Jimmy Rollins. The switch-hitting arbitration-eligible infielder, who will be 29 in a few days, has been a decent back-up for the club since joining them as a free agent in 2000. His contract includes potential performance bonuses.

Benny Agbayani appears to have dodged the bullet of being sold to a Japanese team. The Hawaiian native signed a one-year, $600,000 contract with the Mets last Wednesday. Looking at New York's current roster, he should be their starting left fielder. However, the Mets are still looking to add at least one more bat, either free agent Juan Gonzalez or Angel Mo Vaughn through a trade with Anahiem. It is possible that they could acquire both.

Rumor has it that the Mo Vaughn deal has progressed to the point that the two teams are only awaiting a decision from Vaughn as to whether or not he would be willing to defer a portion of his salary. The commissioner has granted the Mets the standard 72 hours to discuss the contract situation with Vaughn; if completed, Kevin Appier would be sent to the Angels. Vaughn would be the new first baseman, making Todd Zeile (provided he is not included in the deal) a very expensive back-up. If they add Gonzalez, then Agbayani and Joe McEwing become the fourth and fifth outfielders, and Timo Perez would likely be sent to the minors.

Left-handed reliever Dennis Cook signed a one-year, $1.25 million deal with the Angels last Wednesday. Cook has slipped a little over the last few years, but is still a good lefty one-out guy, and while 39, his only DL time in the last several years came last season as the result of personal problems and not a physical disability. After the very questionable decision to non-tender Mike Holtz, the team needed a replacement. Mark Lukasiewicz, who debuted with the Angels at age 29 last year, should be the long lefty in the pen again in 2002.

We should now be caught up with all of the major league signings. There have been several minor league signings that I have not covered. If there is anything you would like me to discuss or that you think I have missed, please drop me a line at the e-mail below.