coming back

After finishing last season in Japan, Joey Butler will get another shot at sticking with an MLB club this spring. The former Pascagoula High and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College standout recently signed a minor league contract with Tampa Bay. A right-handed hitting corner outfielder, Butler, 28, has a chance to crack the Rays’ 25-man roster in the spring, some reports say. The Rays’ current projected outfield starters are former Itawamba CC star Desmond Jennings in center, veteran David DeJesus in left and newly acquired rookie Steven Souza in right. Butler, who has played just 14 MLB games (with Texas and St. Louis), is a career .293 hitter in the minors. He goes 6 feet 2, 220 pounds and has averaged almost 11 homers a year in seven minor league seasons. P.S. Props to Ole Miss alum Lance Lynn on signing a 3-year, $22 million deal with the Cardinals.