With Opening Day fast approaching, the Patriots are finally starting to fill out their roster after an uncharacteristically slow off-season.

Headlining the signings so far is former big league first baseman Larry Barnes. Barnes reached the Major Leagues in 2001 and 2003 with the Anaheim Angels and Los Angeles Dodgers, respectively. While the 31 year-old hit just .154 with one home run and four RBI during his 46 game stint in the big leagues, his minor league statistics are far more representative of what the Patriots are expecting from him.

The team has also brought in two minor league veterans in Mike Lockwood and Jason Olson.

Lockwood is a 29 year-old outfielder who has spent four seasons in Triple-A with the Oakland Athletics and Boston Red Sox organizations. A career .274 hitter with limited speed (39 career stolen bases) and power (56 career home runs), Lockwood will likely find himself at the bottom of Patriots manager Sparky Lyle's batting order. This also marks the second straight year the Patriots have plucked the starting center fielder away from the Pawtucket Red Sox. After Jeremy Owens' MVP caliber year in 2005, that doesn't seem like such a bad idea this time around.

As for Olson, he's a 27 year-old pitcher that's spent four seasons in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization. The right-handed middle reliever missed the entire 2003 and 2004 seasons due to injury. Olson has undergone three separate Tommy John elbow surgeries, and his numbers before and after tell two different stories. Before the surgery, Olson was giving up roughly three runs per nine innings. In Double-A last season with the Jacksonville Suns, he was only able to put up an ERA a shade under 6.00, although he did strike out 62 batters over 66 innings of work.

Rounding out the fresh faces recently signed by the team is Atlantic League All-Star catcher Travis Anderson, who was acquired via trade for pitcher Nick Stocks. Anderson, who now makes his home in Hunterdon County, will have a much shorter drive to the ballpark from his Flemington home after playing for the Camden Riversharks for the past three seasons. During his 2005 All-Star campaign, Anderson hit a whopping .331, including 19 extra base hits in just 163 at-bats.

Unfortunately for him, he's unlikely to be the team's Opening Day catcher, with the team announcing they re-signed former Braves backstop Fernando Lunar the same day they acquired Anderson. Somerset can't keep Anderson's bat out of the lineup, so look for Lunar to be behind the plate and for Anderson to serve as the team's designated hitter.

SomerStuff: The team is reportedly very close to an agreement with shortstop Kevin Nicholson. Nicholson played with the Patriots in 2005 and most recently represented Canada in the World Baseball Classic...Former Patriots pitcher Justin Jensen is recovering from off-season surgery, and the team has left the door open to him for a return. Jensen hasn't pitched for the team since his injury riddled 2004 campaign...The Patriots also re-signed pitcher Greg Modica.

Around the League: Congratulations to former Long Island Ducks pitcher Ken Ray, who got back to the big leagues with the Atlanta Braves for the first time since 1999 on April 6th. Braves manager Bobby Cox brought him in to face Giants superstar Barry Bonds, whom he promptly struck out.