The Rockford RiverHawks will have big-league experience in the clubhouse this season.
The team announced Wednesday that it has signed eight-year major-league veteran Randall Simon to a contract. Simon, a first baseman, has played in the majors for six different teams, including the Chicago Cubs. Simon represented the Netherlands in both World Baseball Classics, 2006 and 2009.
2010 will be the 19th season of professional baseball for the 34-year-old Simon.
Simon signed out of Curacao, in the Netherlands Antilles, with the Atlanta Braves in 1992. Cubs fans probably best remember Simon as a mid-August acquisition in 2003, when Chicago reached the National League Championship Series. Simon hit .282 with six home runs and 21 RBI in 33 games after Pittsburgh traded him to the Cubs for outfielder Ray Sadler. He hit .333 in the postseason.