The Rays have designated southpaw Pedro Figueroa for assignment in order to clear a 40-man roster spot for the recently signed Grant Balfour, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link).
Tampa claimed the 28-year-old Figueroa off release waivers from the A's earlier this month, designating Jerry Sands for assignment to clear space on the roster for the Dominican hurler. Figueroa allowed four runs in just three innings for Oakland in 2013 and pitched to a 4.10 ERA with 7.4 K/9 and 5.0 BB/9 in 59 1/3 innings for their Triple-A affiliate. Figueroa held opposing left-handers to a .671 OPS in 2013 between the Majors and Minors, but he struggled against opposite-handed batters, yielding a .929 OPS.
