Brandon Allen Rumors
Minor Moves: Burroughs, Henn, Allen, Gonzalez
We'll keep track of Friday's minor moves right here...
- Infielder Sean Burroughs has signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers, according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America (on Twitter). Burroughs last appeared in the Majors with the Twins in 2012 but was designated for assignment after just 18 plate appearances. The former top prospect returned to baseball in 2011.
- Within that same tweet, Eddy notes that the Mets have signed left-hander Sean Henn to a minor league deal. The 31-year-old Henn's last big league action was split between the Twins and Orioles in 2009. He has a 7.56 ERA in 81 career innings with more walks (64) than strikeouts (62).
- Still from Eddy's jam-packed tweet, the Padres have inked first baseman Brandon Allen to a minor league contract. The 27-year-old has a career .203/.290/.375 Major League batting line in 389 plate appearances.
- The Blue Jays announced that right-hander Edgar Gonzalez has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Buffalo in order to make room for Casper Wells on the 40-man roster. Toronto claimed the 30-year-old Gonzalez off waivers just five days ago.
- Suspended right-hander Mark Hamburger has signed with the independent league St. Paul Saints, writes Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN (at the bottom of the article). The 26-year-old tested positive for an undisclosed drug last season. He has appeared in eight Major League innings for the Rangers with a 4.50 ERA and was once traded for Eddie Guardado.
Rangers Release Brandon Allen
The Rangers have released Brandon Allen, according to the CBSSports.com transactions page. The Rangers signed the first baseman to a minor league deal back in December.
Allen, 26, appeared in seven games for the Rays last season before being sold to Japan's Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. In parts of four seasons at the Triple-A level, Allen owns a .283/.390/.543 batting line.
Rangers Sign Evan Meek, Randy Wells
The Rangers signed reliever Evan Meek, starter Randy Wells, first baseman Brandon Allen, and starter Jake Brigham to minor league deals with invites, tweets Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Meek, 29, made the All-Star team during a 2.14 ERA campaign for the Pirates in 2010. Since then, he's been limited by a shoulder injury.
Wells, 30, made 82 starts for the Cubs from 2009-11, even placing sixth in the NL Rookie of the Year vote in '09. He spent much of this year struggling at Triple-A Iowa.
Allen, 26, never caught on in the Majors and spent the second half of this season in Japan.
Rays Sell Allen To Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
The Rays have sold the rights of Brandon Allen to a Japanese team, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports (on Twitter). They've sold his rights to the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, Roger Mooney of the Tampa Tribune reports (on Twitter).
Allen, 26, appeared in seven games for the Rays after Tampa Bay claimed him off of waivers from the Athletics. The Rays removed Allen from their roster in June and assigned him to Triple-A, a level at which he has a .283/.390/.543 batting line in parts of four seasons.
Outrighted To Triple-A: Allen, Satin
The latest outright assignments...
- The Rays outrighted Brandon Allen to Triple-A after he cleared waivers, Roy Commings of the Tampa Tribune tweets. The Rays designated Allen for assignment earlier in the week.
- Josh Satin has cleared waivers and will return to Triple-A Buffalo, Adam Rubin of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter). The Mets designated the 27-year-old infielder for assignment two days ago. He had posted a .274/.359/.380 line in 206 plate appearances at Buffalo before getting called up to the Major Leagues.
Rays Designate Brandon Allen For Assignment
The Rays designated Brandon Allen for assignment upon reinstating him from the disabled list today, MLB.com's Bill Chastain reports. The 26-year-old must clear waivers before the Rays can assign him outright to the minor leagues.
Allen appeared in seven games for the Rays, who claimed him off of waivers from the Athletics in April. His brief tenure in Tampa Bay included a walk-off home run on April 26th but was otherwise unremarkable. Allen has a .203/.290/.375 line in 389 MLB plate appearances and experience at first base and left field.
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Rays Claim Brandon Allen
The Rays claimed first baseman Brandon Allen off of waivers from the Athletics, his agency announced on Twitter. Both teams have confirmed that Allen has been claimed. The SFX client had been designated for assignment by the A's last week.
Allen, 26, has a .205/.291/.375 line in 274 career plate appearances with the Diamondbacks and Athletics. The left-handed hitting 2004 draft pick posted a .200/.277/.377 line in 195 MLB plate appearances last year, but has a .268/.355/.489 line in eight minor league seasons.
Athletics Designate Brandon Allen For Assignment
7:55pm: Manager Bob Melvin told reporters (including Joe Stiglich of The Bay Area News Group and MLB.com's Jane Lee) that the plan was for Barton to be the first baseman all along. Kila Ka'aihue played better, and he expects Allen to get claimed off waivers (Twitter links).
3:58pm: The Athletics designated first baseman Brandon Allen for assignment, according to a team press release. The move allows Oakland to reinstate first baseman Daric Barton from the disabled list.
Allen, 26, was acquired from the Diamondbacks at last year's trade deadline along with reliever Jordan Norberto for right-hander Brad Ziegler. With a glut at first base, the A's were said to be shopping Allen over the winter.
The first baseman/leftfielder has a .286/.401/.555 slash line across parts of three Triple-A seasons but yet to put it all together in the majors. In 109 big league games for the D'Backs and A's, Allen has hit .205/.291/.375 with eleven homers.
Athletics Shopping Brandon Allen
Faced with an abundance of first base candidates and just one job, the Athletics are shopping first baseman Brandon Allen, tweets ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick. The 25-year-old has excelled throughout the minor leagues, but has yet to produce at the plate in three Major League stints with the Diamondbacks and A's.
Allen posted a .200/.277/.377 line with six home runs in 195 MLB plate appearances last year to go along with a .991 OPS in 419 minor league plate appearances. The A's, who obtained Allen for Brad Ziegler last summer, also have Daric Barton, Chris Carter and Kila Ka'aihue in the mix at first base.
If the A's haven't already called the Rays, Indians, Pirates and Brewers about Allen, I doubt they're too far down the list of clubs that GM Billy Beane and assistant GM David Forst will get in touch with. The White Sox selected the left-handed hitter in the fifth round of the 2004 draft and traded him to Arizona for Tony Pena in 2009.
Diamondbacks Acquire Brad Ziegler
Long expected to add relief help, the Diamondbacks acquired right-handed sidearmer Brad Ziegler from the Athletics for first baseman Brandon Allen and reliever Jordan Norberto today.
Ziegler, 31, is under team control through 2014 and is owed only $405K for the balance of the season. He has a 2.39 ERA, 6.9 K/9, 3.1 BB/9, and 71.6% groundball rate with no home runs allowed in 37 2/3 innings this year. As you might expect, he's a lot tougher on right-handed hitters.
Allen, 25, hasn't done much in 209 scattered big league plate appearances since coming to Arizona two years ago in a trade with the White Sox. He's logged a lot of time in Triple-A, and the Pacific Coast League is hitter-friendly, but he is hitting .306/.427/.579 there this year.
Norberto, 24, tossed 20 ugly big league innings last year and has been in Triple-A this year. The lefty has a 4.25 ERA, 10.0 K/9, 4.8 BB/9, and 0.2 HR/9 in 48 2/3 innings. He has good velocity for a southpaw and ranked 29th among D'Backs prospects before the 2010 season, according to Baseball America.
Buster Olney, Jon Heyman, Tim Brown, and Steve Gilbert reported various aspects of the story as it developed.
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