Rico Noel
RF FA
Thu 8/3/17 4:06 PM

Noel signed a minor-league contract with the Astros on Thursday, Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle reports.
EDGE Analysis
The Astros picked up Noel from the Independent League, where he was slashing .261/.363/.357 with 34 stolen bases in 56 games. He'll likely report to Double-A Corpus Christi or Triple-A Fresno where he'll serve as organizational depth.

Rico Noel
RF FA
Mon 5/2/16 12:26 PM

Noel (oblique) is 8-for-37 (.216) with a double and four RBI through 10 games with Triple-A Oklahoma City.
EDGE Analysis
Noel missed the first portion of the season after recovering from an oblique injury, but he has recovered from that setback and is good to go moving forward. He will have to do a lot more hitting if he hopes to have a shot to reach the majors at some point this season.

Rico Noel
RF FA
Tue 4/5/16 10:49 PM

Noel has a mild oblique strain and was therefore left off the preliminary Triple-A roster, the Los Angeles News Group's J.P. Hoornstra reports.
EDGE Analysis
The 27-year-old speedster will stick with Triple-A once he's healthy and could eventually join the Dodgers when rosters expand as a pinch runner.

Rico Noel
RF FA
Wed 12/23/15 1:09 PM

Noel agreed to a minor league contract with the Dodgers on Wednesday, Matt Eddy of Baseball America reports.
EDGE Analysis
Noel struggled mightily at the plate in the minors, but ended up earning a September promotion with the Yankees last season to be used almost exclusively as a pinch-runner. The 26-year-old has had as many as 90 steals in a season, but has never hit nearly consistently enough to carve out a full-time role in the majors.

Rico Noel
RF FA
Thu 10/15/15 5:56 PM

Noel was outrighted to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Thursday.
EDGE Analysis
The 26-year-old seemed highly unlikely to maintain his 40-man roster spot through the offseason, having posted a .181/.302/.207 line between Double-A and Triple-A in 2015, and then serving almost exclusively as a pinch-runner after his September callup. Perhaps Noel will attend spring training as a non-roster invitee, but he seems destined to spend most of 2016 as organizational depth.

Rico Noel
RF FA
Sun 6/28/15 6:37 PM

Noel was released by the Padres on Sunday, the U-T reports. Noel is a 26-year-old center fielder. He was hitting just .242 at Triple-A El Paso this season.