Roster Moves in Bulk

We've had a busy week with the Major League roster, and today is the denouement (more or less). Here goes:

Purchase the contract of Kyle Blanks
The big man is coming. Kyle has been playing some outfield (15 games) along with 1B in AAA Portland, and he's hit .283/.393/.485 with 12 homers. He won't be supplanting Adrian at 1B, but we believe there will be some ab's for him during interleague play next week.

Purchase the contract of Eliezer Alfonzo
Eliezer is leading the Beavers in both OPS (.887) and slugging (.565) while catching 41 games. With Nick Hundley going on the DL, Eliezer should get some time behind the plate with Henry Blanco.

Recall Wade LeBlanc
Wade was with the big Club a few days last week but didn't have the opportunity to pitch. Tonight, however, he'll be the starter against the A's. Wade has a 4.08 ERA in 57 innings in Portland, giving up 56 hits and 17 walks while striking out 47.

Reinstate Everth Cabrera from the 60-Day DL
After breaking a bone in his hand in Philadelphia, Everth had surgery and missed two months. In the last few weeks, though, he has made rehab stops at Lake Elsinore (.391/.500/.522) and Portland (.333/.379/.407). It certainly appears as though he's ready to go.

Place Chris Young on the 15-Day DL
This has been well-documented in the mainstream media, but Chris has been battling some shoulder soreness for the past three or four starts. We decided it was time to let the soreness settle down before the injury cascaded.

Place Nick Hundley on the 15-Day DL
Nick was hit on the wrist with a pitch a little more than a week ago, and it's been slow to respond to treatment. Rather than continuing to try to fight through it on a daily basis, it made sense to bring Eliezer and make sure that Nick didn't have to play with discomfort for an extended period.

Place Cliff Floyd on the 60-Day DL
Cliff's shoulder continues to be a burden for him. Surgery is an option.

Josh Wilson claimed on waivers by the Seattle Mariners
In order to create room on the roster (both 25-man and 40-man) for Everth Cabrera, we placed Josh Wilson on waivers. The Mariners claimed him, so we won't have the option of having him available to us in AAA. Josh had a prior outright, so even had he cleared waivers, he would have had the option to elect free agency. Josh doesn't have any options remaining, so the Mariners must keep him on their 25-man roster.

Arturo Lopez claimed on waivers by the New York Mets
We needed to create a few 40-man roster spots today - Kyle Blanks, Eliezer Alfonzo, and Everth Cabrera (60-Day DL doesn't count toward the 40-man) - so we had some tough choices to make. As I wrote in an earlier post, often times the decision comes down to which player has the best chance to get through waivers. We took a shot with Arturo, but the Mets claimed him. He still has options remaining, so the Mets can option him to the minors.

We now have a total of 10 players on the Major League DL: Cha Seung Baek, Cliff Floyd, Luke Gregerson, Scott Hairston (starting rehab in Lake Elsinore this weekend), Shawn Hill, Nick Hundley, Jake Peavy, Luis Perdomo, Chris Young, and Mark Worrell. As a team we've now amassed 507 DL days, and the season is only 76 days old. In fact, we've had six or more players on the DL on 61 of the 76 days. At some point any team's depth gets tested, and I'm afraid we're well beyond that point (especially since our projected #1, #2, and #3 starters are all on the DL). Nevertheless, this is a great opportunity for some of the younger guys to gain experience, prove they belong, and establish themselves.