St. Petersburg, FL (My Sportsbook) - The Tampa Bay Devil Rays strengthened their bullpen on Thursday, signing veteran reliever John Rocker to a minor league contract. The hard-throwing lefthander will be sent to Triple-A Durham.

Rocker, who has been out of baseball since last October, impressed his new club with a strong workout and healthy physical.

"I thought he had shown enough to warrant an opportunity," manager Lou Piniella said. "He threw sliders and split-finger [fastballs]. He's chomping at the bit to get himself back to the big leagues."

Rocker was 2-3 with a 6.66 ERA and one save in 30 appearances with the Texas Rangers during the 2002 campaign. In 278 major league outings, Rocker is 13-22 with 88 saves while with Atlanta, Cleveland and Texas.