Nats give Towers, Ledezma, Colome minor deals, invite them to camp

WASHINGTON -- Pitchers Josh Towers, Wil Ledezma and Jesus Colome have agreed to minor league contracts with the Washington Nationals and were invited to spring training.

They bring the total number of players scheduled to participate in the team's major league camp in Viera, Fla., starting next month to 63 -- the franchise never has gone to spring training with fewer than 70 players since moving from Montreal to Washington before the 2005 season.

Towers is a right-hander who last pitched in the majors in 2007, when he went 5-10 with a 5.38 ERA for Toronto.

Ledezma, a lefty, went a combined 0-2 with a 4.17 ERA for San Diego and Arizona in 2008.

Colome was released by the Nationals in December after going 2-2 with a 4.31 ERA in 61 relief appearances last season. In 2007, the right-hander was 5-1 with a 3.82 ERA in 61 games for Washington.