Tony Jackson of ESPNLosAngeles.com passes along the following:

HOUSTON — Veteran major league right-hander Ian Snell signed a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday, barely two months after he retired during spring training. Snell had gone to camp with the St. Louis Cardinals but failed to make the club.

DeJon Watson, the Dodgers’ assistant general manager for player development who signed Snell, said Snell initially will go to the team’s spring-training complex in Glendale, Ariz., to get his arm back into shape after the two-month layoff, then eventually will report to the Dodgers’ Triple-A Albuquerque affiliate.

Snell, 29, last pitched in the majors last season for the Seattle Mariners, going 0-5 with a 6.41 ERA in eight starts and four relief appearances and also spending some time in Triple-A. Originally a 26th-round draft pick by the Pittsburgh Pirates, Snell has a career major league mark of 38-53 in seven seasons, with a 4.80 ERA.

From 2004-2008, Snell struck out 7.7 batters per nine innings in the majors. That fell to 5.4 over the past two years, covering 191 1/3 innings.