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Phillies sign two on minor league deals

Infielder Ryan Flaherty and outfielder Collin Cowgill have agreed to minor league contracts with the Philadelphia Phillies and will attend big league spring training.

Flaherty would get a $1.9 million, one-year contract if added to the 40-man roster under terms of the deal announced Friday.

He has a .215 batting average with 35 homers and 128 RBIs in six seasons with the Baltimore Orioles. He hit .211 with four RBIs in 48 at-bats over 23 games last year.

Cowgill has a career .234 average with 12 homers and 57 RBIs in six seasons with five teams. He last played in the majors in 2016 with Cleveland.

Tampa Bay Rays owner Stuart Sternberg wants to make a historic neighborhood in Tampa the next home of the perennially low-drawing team, which wants to shift across the bay from St. Petersburg.

Sternberg said at a news conference Friday the Rays will focus their new ballpark search on the east side of the bay at a 14acre site in Ybor City, just north of Ybor Channel.

It’s the first time the team has publicly stated its preference for Tampa over St. Petersburg, its home since the franchise started play in 1998.

Sternberg and baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred say Tropicana Field, the last fixed dome stadium in the major leagues, is inadequate. Tampa Bay drew a major league-low 1.25 million fans last year.

Jets sign son of defensive coordinator

The New York Jets have signed defensive back Kacy Rodgers II, son of defensive coordinator Kacy Rodgers, to a reserve/future contract.

Rodgers II was undrafted out of the University of Miami in 2013 and spent the last two seasons playing for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the CFL. He had 74 tackles, one interception and three forced fumbles for the Roughriders.

Rodgers II, who attended rookie minicamp with Kansas City in 2014, had a workout with the Jets in December.

The elder Rodgers has been New York’s defensive coordinator under coach Todd Bowles since 2015.