Cardinals Designate Pete Kozma Off Active Roster

2:42pm: Goold explains (Twitter links) that the Cardinals needed to clear a spot for Gonzales to make the start while also keeping an extra arm in the bullpen. The club knew it could pull back Kozma if he was claimed on revocable option waivers.

1:07pm: Kozma has been removed from the club’s 40-man roster listing on MLB.com, which could suggest that a different transaction was completed. If, in fact, he was optioned, then he would remain on the 40-man roster.

1:01pm: It appears that Kozma was merely designated off the 25-man roster, as Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports on Twitter that Kozma has cleared optional waivers and been optioned to Triple-A.

11:23am: The Cardinals have designated shortstop Pete Kozma for assignment, tweets Jon Morosi of FOX Sports. Presumably, the move is related to the club’s call-up of young pitcher Marco Gonzalez, who will need a 40-man spot.

Kozma, 26, played a key role for the club in its 2012 NLCS run, taking over late in the year for the injured Rafael Furcal and posting a .952 OPS, and served as the team’s primary shortstop in 2013. He could not sustain the 2012 magic, however, as he slashed just .217/.275/.273 over 448 plate appearances last year. On the other hand, Kozma rated out as one of the most productive shortstops in the game on the defensive side of the ledger.

St. Louis ultimately went in a different direction, adding free agent Jhonny Peralta to take over up the middle. Apart from a brief call-up, Kozma has spent the year at Triple-A, where he owns a .234/.341/.372 triple-slash in 223 plate appearances.