With pitchers and catchers already in camp the aroma of peanuts, a drench of cold beer and hours of television watching will no doubt begin in the coming weeks.

Spring Training is upon us and it’s magical time where the games don’t count that teams start to place together their roster for the coming season. Stars take their positions, youngsters are looking to make an impression, their’s guys winding down their career and then there are those hoping to have one more shot at glory. The latter usually sign minor league contracts with an invite to the spring activities and are called non roster invitees.

In the coming weeks I’ll take time to highlight a non roster invitee for each team. The regular season begins on March 31st and while I’d have enough time to do a player on each team before this date I’ll start out doing a few more that way hopefully the player will still be in camp. After all it would be a bummer to get to the White Sox and not talk about Brad Eldred.

Today we’ll take a look at David Newhan. Newhan spent last season with the New York Mets jumping on the major league roster four times and hitting a blistering .203.

Being from Maryland I’m quite familiar with Newhan and the circus of girls who still believe he is a good player because guys who stand 5′10″ and have one fluke season are just too cool. His additude while in his later seasons with the Orioles have made me happy this his career has fallen on hard times.

Drafted by the Oakland A’s in 1995 he was shipped to San Diego for the infamous duo of Doug Bochtler and Jorge Velendia. For those who think Velendia’s name sounds familiar it’s worth noting he made it back to the majors last year for the Tampa Bay Devils Rays hitting .320 in 14 games.

Newhan began playing in the majors all the way back in a tough time called 1999 with the Padres. Newhan hit just .140 in his first time in the big league and was eventually sent to Philadelphia for Desi Relaford. Relaford has bounced around between bench stints and minor league apperances since then.

Following the 2001 season the Phillies lost interest with Newhan and he became a traveling minor leaguer making apperances in Colorado Springs for the Colorado Rockies and later the Oklahoma Redhawks, affiliate of the Texas Rangers.

Newhan hit .348 for Colorado Springs and was hitting .328 for Oklahoma when the Rangers made the decision to release him on June 18.

The same day the Baltimore Orioles signed Newhan. Newhan standing just 5′10″ was a hit for the Oriole fans looking for a reason to still cheer for the team following a collapse at the All-Star break. Newhan came on hot and the team began find spots at the outfield corners and third base to give him at-bats. At 30 years of age Newhan collected 373 at-bats hitting .311/.361/.453 driving in 54 and hitting 8 homers.

The following two seasons Newhan became a tired act hitting just .202 and .252 while constant complaining occurred when the team would demote him to the minors.

Newhan was granted free agency following the 2006 season and signed with the New York Mets. It’s surprising that Newhan lasted the year with the Mets considering he hit just .203 and posted a sub par .289 on base percentage.

The Houston Astros have invited Newhan to Spring Training this season and there doesn’t appear to be much room for him as a reserve outfielder. The team currently is set with Carlos Lee and Hunter Pence in the corners and Michael Bourn in center. Darin Erstad has a guaranteed $1 million contract and Reggie Abercrombie who had been claimed on waivers from the Marlins is the early favorite for the fifth outfielders role due to his speed and range in center.

Newhan’s has a career line of .252/.313/.378 with 21 homers and 108 RBI in 349 career games. 54 of Newhan’s RBI’s were driven in during the 2004 season alone.