Jeff Cirillo

Cirillo signed a one-year contract with Minnesota to fill a utility role. He could split time with Nick Punto at third base and also could get playing time at DH. In 2006 he hit .319, including .295 in 44 at-bats as a pinch hitter.

Cirillo resurrected his career in 2005 by hitting .281 as a bench player. The Brewers will bring him back to spring training with the same opportunity again in 2006.

After another poor year, Cirillo has lost a starting job and will have a utility role with the Padres. Cirillo blamed Lou Piniella for his hitting woes in his first Seattle season, but had no one to blame but himself last year as his average dropped to an embarrassing .205. He played in only two of the final 35 games. Cirillo is far removed from his days as a .300 hitter; his time in Colorado merely hid that fact. He hit nearly 100 points lower on the road than at Coors in 2001. There's no reason to expect him to return to the hitter he once was.

Cirillo was a huge fantasy bust in 2002. Selected in the top half among third basemen last season, Cirillo had only six home runs, 54 runs batted in and saw his average plummet to .249. For Cirillo, it was not just Colorado inflating his numbers, because he had good numbers while he was in Milwaukee, so it could have been first-year jitters in the Northwest.