Rangers Designate Joey Butler For Assignment

The Rangers have reinstated Nelson Cruz from the restricted list following his Biogenesis suspension and designated fellow outfielder Joey Butler for assignment in order to create room on the 40-man roster, according to executive vice president of communications John Blake (on Twitter). Cruz will be back in the lineup for tonight's Game 163 tiebreaker between the Rangers and Rays, batting sixth and starting at designated hitter.

The 27-year-old Butler made his big league debut for the Rangers this season, collecting 15 plate appearances and recording four hits. Drafted by the Rangers out of the Universtiy of New Orleans in the 15th round back in 2008, Butler is a career .300/.392/.468 hitter in 1,563 Triple-A plate appearances.

Butler is the second player to be designated for assignment for the purposes of reinstating a suspended player, as the Padres also designated Chris Robinson for assignment earlier today to clear room for Everth Cabrera. Both situations can be monitored in MLBTR's DFA Tracker.