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Darnell McDonald

Darnell McDonald Retires

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Veteran outfielder Darnell McDonald announced his retirement from baseball late last night via Instagram.  McDonald re-signed with the Cubs on a minor league deal in December, but he has instead decided to call it a career.

"After playing [15 years] professionally I'm humbled to announce that I'm hanging up my spikes. When one dream ends a new one begins. BIG thanks to everyone that has helped me fulfill my dream of playing in the show," the 35-year-old wrote.

McDonald posted a career .285/.353/.453 slash line against left-handed pitchers at the Major League level. The Colorado native spent the bulk of 2013 at Triple-A Iowa, where he slashed .236/.307/.346 in 294 plate appearances with four homers. He was solid in the bigs as well, however, hitting .302/.351/.434 with a homer in 57 PAs.  McDonald will be remembered mostly for his time with the Red Sox, but he also saw big league action with the Orioles, Twins, Reds, Yankees, and Cubs.

Cubs Re-Sign Darnell McDonald

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The Cubs have re-signed Darnell McDonald to a minor league deal, according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America (on Twitter).  McDonald played in 25 games for the Cubs last season.

McDonald boasts a career .285/.353/.453 slash line against left-handed pitchers at the Major League level. The 35-year-old spent the bulk of 2013 at Triple-A Iowa, where he slashed .236/.307/.346 in 294 plate appearances with four homers.  He was solid in the bigs as well, however, hitting .302/.351/.434 with a homer in 57 PAs.  McDonald is represented by McNamara Baseball Group, as shown in the MLBTR Agency Database.

Minor Moves: Rays, Cubs, Purcey, Okajima

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We'll keep track of today's minor moves here..

  • Infielder Ryan Roberts, 1B/OF Shelley Duncan, outfielder Jason Bourgeois and right-hander J.D. Martin have all elected to become free agents, MLBDailyDish.com's Chris Cotillo reports (Twitter links).  All four players were outrighted off the Rays' roster earlier this season.
  • Also from Cotillo (Twitter links), catcher J.C. Boscan and outfielder Darnell McDonald have elected to become free agents.  Both players were outrighted off the Cubs' 40-man roster last week.
  • The White Sox announced they have outrighted David Purcey to Triple-A Charlotte. Purcey, 31, posted a 2.13 ERA with 8.2 K/9 and 6.0 BB/9 in 24 relief appearances. The club's 40-man roster is now at 36.  Purcey was one of Chicago's arbitration eligible players this winter.
  • Left-hander Hideki Okajima and right-hander Chris Resop have elected free agency from the Athletics, according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America (Twitter link).  Okajima, 38 in December, pitched in five big league games for the A's but spent the bulk of the year in Triple-A where he posted a 4.22 ERA with 9.5 K/9 and 1.5 BB/9 in 37 appearances.  Resop, 31 in November, also spent the lion's share of the year in Triple-A and had a 6.81 ERA with 7.3 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9.
  • Reds right-hander Jose Arredondo, Angels right-hander Robert Coello, and Marlins third baseman Gil Velazquez have elected free agency under Article XX(D), according to Eddy (via Twitter).  Arredondo struggled at the Triple-A level in 2013, posting a 5.87 ERA with 10.4 K/9 and 6.5 BB/9.  Coello made 16 big league relief appearances in 2013 and put up a 3.71 ERA with 12.2 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9.
  • At Baseball America, Eddy has the full list of the past week's minor league transactions.

MLBTR's Mark Polishuk also contributed to this post

Cubs Outright McDonald, Dolis, Four Others

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The Cubs announced that outfielder Darnell McDonald, catcher J.C. Boscan, and right-hander Trey McNutt have cleared waivers and were outrighted off of the 40-man roster.  In addition, the Cubs activated right-handers Rafael Dolis and Zach Putnam and outfielder Thomas Neal off of the 60-day disabled list and subsequently outrighted them from the 40-man.

McDonald, 35 in November, slashed .302/.351/.434 in 57 plate appearances for the Cubs this season but spent the bulk of the year in Triple-A Iowa, where he hit .236/.307/.346.  Dolis made 34 relief appearances for the Cubs in 2012, but pitched to a 6.39 ERA with 5.7 K/9 and 5.4 BB/9 and saw just five games this season before a June injury.  McNutt, 24, was rated by Baseball America as the 48th best prospect in the country prior to the 2011 season.  The well-traveled Neal was claimed on August 5th and played in two games before suffering a separated right shoulder. 

With the moves, the Cubs’ 40-man roster currently stands at 37 players.

Cubs Sign Brent Lillibridge, Darnell McDonald

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The Cubs signed infielder Brent Lillibridge and outfielder Darnell McDonald to minor league contracts, the team announced.

Lillibridge, a CAA Sports client, appeared in 102 games for the White Sox, Red Sox and Indians in 2012. The 29-year-old posted a .195/.250/.274 batting line in 209 total plate appearances while appearing at every position except pitcher and catcher.

McDonald, a 34-year-old client of McNamara Baseball Group, played for the Yankees and Red Sox in 2012. He appeared in 42 total games, posting a .205/.297/.352 batting line in 103 plate appearances and playing all three outfield positions.

Minor Moves: 28 Players Elect Free Agency

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A total of 28 players — all with big league time under their belts — recently elected free agency after finishing the year in Triple-A. Here is the full list, courtesy of the International League and Pacific Coast League transaction pages…

Yankees Notes: Ankiel, Pierre, Wandy, Figueroa

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It was on this day in 1961 that commissioner Ford Frick suggested that "a distinctive mark" would be placed on a new home run record if a player eclipsed Babe Ruth's then-record of 60 homers in more than 154 games (the length of Ruth's season in 1927).  Though no such notation ever used in any sort of official record, it was still popularly believed that Frick and Major League Baseball had asterisked Roger Maris' 61-homer season.

Here's the latest from Yankee Stadium…

Yankees Designate McDonald For Assignment

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The Yankees designated outfielder Darnell McDonald for assignment, MLB.com's Bryan Hoch reports (on Twitter). The move creates roster space for C.C. Sabathia, who starts tonight against the Blue Jays.

The Yankees claimed McDonald off of waivers from the Red Sox 13 days ago. He has a .205/.297/.352 batting line in 103 total plate appearances this year and owns a .246/.312/.394 line in six MLB seasons.

Yankees Claim McDonald, Designate Schwinden

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The Yankees acquired Darnell McDonald from the Red Sox, the outfielder announced on his personal Twitter account. The Yankees claimed McDonald off of waivers, Marc Carig of the Star-Ledger tweets. The team designated Chris Schwinden for assignment in a related move, Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News tweets.

The Red Sox designated McDonald for assignment after he posted a .214/.309/.369 batting line in 99 plate appearances this year. The 33-year-old can play all three outfield positions and has a .248/.313/.396 batting line in parts of six seasons with the Orioles, Twins, Reds and Red Sox. McDonald joins a Yankees outfield that includes, Curtis Granderson, Nick Swisher, Raul Ibanez, Andruw Jones, Dewayne Wise and the injured Brett Gardner.

It's been a busy month for the 25-year-old Schwinden. The Blue Jays claimed him off of waivers from the Mets on June 2nd and the Indians claimed him off of waivers from Toronto four days later. Schwinden has a 4.31 ERA with 6.3 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 in 14 starts for four Triple-A teams this year. He also appeared in three games for the Mets.

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