Saturday afternoon linkage..
- Phillies General Manager Ruben Amaro says that he traded Michael Schwimer to the Blue Jays earlier today because the club will have some looming 40-man roster issues and they already had excess bullpen depth, according to Jayson Stark of ESPN.com (on Twitter).
- Meanwhile, Schwimer says that the players' union has not closed an inquiry into whether he was optioned to the minors last season while injured, Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes. The Phillies said the reliever was healthy while he claims that he was dealing with a biceps issue. Schwimer can file a grievance with the union and seek lost service time and back pay up to $75K, but the outcome won't affect the Blue Jays, according to Shi Davidi of Sportsnet (on Twitter).
- The Rockies' interest in Rays pitcher Jeff Niemann makes sense as they have had interest in him in years past and he is affordable at $3MM, writes Troy Renck of the Denver Post (Twitter links). However, Renck would be surprised if the Rockies did something before seeing the rotation cycle through a few times.
