AL Notes: Blue Jays, Astros, Loe

Former Expos and Orioles GM Jim Beattie, who's now a pro scout for the Blue Jays, says the Jays are looking for help at second base and in their bullpen, Bob Elliott of the Canadian Baseball Network notes. "We’re always looking for pitching depth in the bullpen and our situation at second place is a little unsettled," Beattie says. "We have two guys (Emilio Bonifacio and Maicer Izturis) there but they’re not everyday guys." Here are more notes from the American League.

• Astros GM Jeff Luhnow explains the rationale that led the team to replace Jed Lowrie with Tyler Greene, and then to replace Greene with Ronny Cedeno, Brian T. Smith of the Houston Chronicle reports. "When the Cardinals released Ronny Cedeno, he was a player that we had targeted during the offseason. But we had Lowrie most of the offseason, so we weren't aggressive," says Luhnow. "When (Cedeno) became available, we went back to our original plan, which was to try and get him in here." The Cardinals signed Cedeno in late January, while the Astros did not trade Lowrie (to the Athletics) until early February.
• Reliever Kameron Loe is hoping to stay with the Mariners, Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times writes. The Mariners need to decide by Tuesday whether to open a roster spot for Loe, or the non-roster pitcher could exercise an out clause in his contract. "I hope we can work something out," Loe says. "I really like it here." Loe posted a 4.61 ERA with 7.2 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 in 68 1/3 innings for the Brewers in 2012.
  
  Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/03/24/3305044/loe-hoping-to-remain-with-mariners.html#storylink=cpy