The Rays have claimed Pedro Figueroa off of unconditional release waivers, according to Roger Mooney of The Tampa Tribune (via Twitter). To make room on the roster, the club has designated outfielder Jerry Sands for assignment.
Figueroa, 28, has 24 big league appearances to his credit over the last two years with the Athletics. He spent the bulk of last year at Triple-A Sacramento, posting a 4.10 ERA with 7.4 K/9 and 5.0 BB/9 in 45 relief appearances and one start.
Sands, 26, was claimed off waivers from the Pirates just before Christmas and didn't get a chance to go house hunting in Tampa Bay. Sands batted just .207/.311/.329 with seven home runs in 106 games (397 PAs) at the Triple-A level in 2013. Once a favorite in the Dodgers' farm system, he became one of the players in the Adrian Gonzalez/Carl Crawford/Josh Beckett blockbuster of August 2012. The Red Sox included him in another notable trade last offseason – the deal that sent Mark Melancon to Pittsburgh and Joel Hanrahan to Boston. In his minor league career, Sands is a .276/.366/.526 hitter with 128 homers in 2433 plate appearances.
