Minor League Members of the O's 40 Man Roster- Craig Tatum

While technically you could argue that Craig shouldn't be considered a Minor Leaguer since he made his Major League debut with the Reds last season, he has never played for the O's so for my purposes, I am considering him a Minor League guy. The Orioles claimed him off of waivers from the Reds on November 20, 2009 and he will be trying to make the O's as their backup catcher for the 2010 season.

Craig grew up in Hattiesburg, Mississippi and was a standout pitcher and batter during his years at Hattiesburg High School which earned him the title of the Mississippi Gatorade Player of the Year. He attended Mississippi State and earned second team All-SEC honors as a sophomore which led to the Reds selecting him in the third round of the 2004 amateur draft.

Interestingly enough, Craig earned his first promotion to the Reds on 7/19/09 when my favorite player ever (no, I'm just kidding, I wasn't a fan) Ra-moan Hernandez injured his knee and went on the DL. He appeared in 26 total games for the Reds and hit only .162.

One negative about Craig is that he played high school baseball with Jonathan Papelbon and still trains with him in the off-season.