A few items of note on Friday night as Derek Lowe's bid for the Majors' second no-hitter of the week falls by the wayside …
- Rangers prospect Leonys Martin can opt out of his five-year contract and choose to go through the arbitration process if he has enough service time to qualify for arbitration before the contract expires, MLBTR has learned. Martin, 23, is a Cuban defector whose deal with Texas became official on Tuesday.
- Angels reliever Jason Bulger, who was designated for assignment on April 27, cleared waivers and accepted an assignment to Triple-A Salt Lake, tweets Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times.
- Diamondbacks right-hander Daniel Hudson was part of the ill-fated trade between the Padres and White Sox in May 2009 that was vetoed by Jake Peavy, according to Dan Hayes of the North County Times (via Twitter). Peavy later accepted a trade to the South Siders at that season's deadline, but that package did not include Hudson. Instead, Clayton Richard, Aaron Poreda, Dexter Carter and Adam Russell went to the Friars. Hudson was later dealt to Arizona at the 2010 trade deadline in exchange for Edwin Jackson.
- The current collective bargaining agreement is set to expire at season's end, and hard-slotting for draft picks could be implemented in the new CBA, writes Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com. Hard-slotting would affix a set price to each draft pick and preclude drafted prep players from using the threat of going to college as bargaining leverage. One scouting director told Mayo he expects to see more players sign this year since it could be their last chance to negotiate a hefty signing bonus.
