Minor Moves: Nakajima, Robinson, Hayes
Today's minor moves from around the league…
- The Athletics have outrighted Hiroyuki Nakajima off their 40-man roster, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets. Nakajima will remain with Triple-A Sacramento, where he has spent the entire season. The Japanese infielder signed a two-year, $6.5MM deal with Oakland in December and posted a .282/.336/.368 line in 324 minor league plate appearances.
- The Padres purchased the contract of catcher Chris Robinson from Triple-A Tucson, the team announced. In corresponding moves, Nick Hundley was put on the paternity list and Jason Marquis was transferred to the 60-day DL. Robinson, 29, was dealt from Baltimore to San Diego in June. The London, Ontario native was a third-round pick of the Tigers in the 2005 draft and has a .275/.320/.355 line in 2326 PA over nine minor league seasons.
- The Royals have outrighted catcher Brett Hayes to Triple-A Omaha, according to the Pacific Coast League transactions page. Hayes, 29, was designated for assignment after appearing in just three big league games for Kansas City this season. He's batted .231/.280/.441 in 68 Triple-A contests and is a career .219/.366/.364 hitter in 146 games at the Major League level — all of which came with the Marlins prior to his brief stint with the Royals.
- With Hayes having been outrighted, just two players are currently in DFA limbo: Ryan Roberts of the Rays and Elliot Johnson of the Royals. Both were designated for assignment yesterday.
AL East Links: A-Rod, Jeter, Ellsbury, Myers, Jones
According to a "60 Minutes" report, members of Alex Rodriguez's inner circle obtained unredacted Biogenesis documents in February and leaked the names of Ryan Braun, Francisco Cervelli and Danny Valencia (who was later cleared) to Yahoo Sports. Michael Radutzky of CBS News writes. Rodriguez talked to the media (including Andrew Marchand of ESPN New York) today and denied leaking the names of any fellow player, particularly his Yankee teammate Cervelli. The third baseman also warned that more details in the case would be made public in the coming days:
"You know, I've been a member of this union for 20 years, and it is important for all the guys to understand that my loyalty is to this union and it would never happen, it would never occur and it didn't happen. Let's make one thing clear: For the next seven weeks, it is going to be a very bumpy road. Every day expect a story like this, if not bigger."
Here are some more items from around the AL East…
- Given the uncertainty of Rodriguez's situation and Derek Jeter's health, the Yankees will need to explore alternatives at third base and shortstop this winter, Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes. Under Sherman's scenario, Jeter would play half his games at shortstop and the rest at first base or as the Yankees' primary DH against right-handers.
- As least 12 teams project to be suitors for Jacoby Ellsbury this winter, Fangraphs' Paul Swydan writes. The Red Sox are one of those teams, as "GM Ben Cherington isn’t letting Ellsbury go without a fight," though Swydan notes that the Sox could be in a position crunch in left field (with Jackie Bradley, Daniel Nava and Jonny Gomes) if they re-sign both Ellsbury and Mike Napoli.
- The Rays still look like the winners of the Wil Myers/James Shields trade, despite the Royals' recent hot streak, Grantland's Rany Jazayerli opines.
- The hiring of Buck Showalter was the key move that turned the Orioles from also-rans into contenders, outfielder Adam Jones writes in a guest piece for Buster Olney's column (ESPN Insider subscription required).
Royals Acquire Emilio Bonifacio
2:24pm: Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos told reporters, including Shi Davidi of Sportsnet, that the Royals claimed Bonifacio off waivers and a trade came together quickly this morning. The trade will be completed by mid-September, and it sounds like the Jays will receive cash (Twitter links).
12:07pm: The Royals announced that they have acquired Emilio Bonifacio from the Blue Jays in exchange for cash or a player to be named later. Bonifacio's name popped up in trade talk in late July but he wasn't moved prior to the non-waiver deadline.
Bonifacio, 28, came to Toronto in the offseason blockbuster with the Marlins. The versatile veteran hasn't performed well north of the border, however, hitting just .218/.258/.321 on the year with three homers. While Bonifacio has never been known for his bat, his .271/.332/.345 slash line in four years with the Marlins was considerably better than what he's done in 2013.
Bonifacio is earning $2.6MM as a second-year arbitration eligible player and KC will be on the hook for the prorated portion of his salary which comes out to about $654K. The Wasserman Media Group client has one more year of arbitration eligibility ahead of him and can hit the open market following the 2014 campaign.
The switch-hitter has spent significant time at the three outfield posiions, second base, third base, and shortstop. The deal brings Bonifacio to the same organization as his younger brother, Jorge, who is an outfielder at Double-A Northwest Arkansas.
Steve Adams contributed to this post.
Minor Moves: Jake Fox, Francisley Bueno
Here are Sunday’s minor moves from around MLB:
- The Diamondbacks have signed 1B/OF/C Jake Fox, Fox writes on Facebook. Fox has been assigned to Triple-A Reno. He had been playing for the independent Somerset Patriots, for whom hit .310/.387/.572 in 2013, with 25 home runs in 374 at bats. Fox played in the Pirates and Phillies systems in 2012, and last appeared in the Majors with the Orioles in 2011.
- The Royals have announced, via Twitter, they have optioned left-hander Francisley Bueno to Triple-A Omaha. The 32-year-old was designated for assignment yesterday less than 24 hours after making his season debut with 2 1/3 innings of one-hit relief against the Red Sox. Bueno has excelled at Triple-A this year posting a 2.93 ERA with 7.3 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 31 games (one start) covering 58 1/3 innings.
Charlie Wilmoth contributed to this post.
Royals Acquire Jamey Carroll
The Royals have acquired infielder Jamey Carroll from the Twins, tweets Phil Miller of the Star Tribune. Both teams have confirmed the trade and the Twins will receive a player to be named later or cash. 
"I'm excited to go to a team that's been playing really well," Carroll told reporters including Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioner Press (video link). "I hope I can go there and contribute in a positive way. It should be pretty exciting. It's exciting to go and be in this situation."
The Royals, 7.5 games behind the Tigers in the AL Central and 4.5 games out of the second AL Wild Card spot, have lost a pair of second basemen to injury this month. Chris Getz was placed on the disabled list August 1 with a left knee sprain and Miguel Tejada landed on the DL today after suffering a right calf strain last night. Carroll has split his time between second base and third base for the Twins this year while posting a slash line of .230/.284/.262 in 202 plate appearances. Royals manager Ned Yost says Carroll "is a very solid player" and will play mostly at second, but will see time at third, tweets Pete Grathoff of the Kansas City Star.
Carroll is in the final season of a two-year, $6.75MM contract he signed with the Twins in November 2011. The deal includes a 2014 mutual option worth $2MM. MLBTR's Zach Links detailed recently the 39-year-old needs 401 plate appearances for the option to vest, so he needs 199 more to reach that mark. If the option does vest, Carroll can decide to take the guaranteed $2MM and remain in Kansas City or accept a $250K buyout and test the open market this offseason.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Royals Designate Brett Hayes For Assignment
The Royals announced that they have designated catcher Brett Hayes for assignment. The move will allow KC to activate fellow backstop Salvador Perez from the seven-day disabled list.
Hayes, 29, saw just three games of big league action (all last week) before being DFA'd. The catcher has a .219/.266/.364 slash line across parts of five major league seasons and a .252/.294/.398 in five Triple-A campaigns.
Royals Designate Francisley Bueno
The Royals have designated Francisley Bueno for assignment, according to Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star (on Twitter). The right-hander made his sole 2013 big league appearance yesterday, allowing just one hit in 2 and 1/3 innings.
This marks the second time this summer that the 32-year-old has been DFA'd by the Royals – he was also bumped off of the 40-man roster in late June to make way for the reactivation of Danny Duffy. In 30 relief appearances and one start at Triple-A Omaha this season, Bueno posted a 2.93 ERA with 7.3 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9.
Quick Hits: Santana, Liriano, Porter, Samardzija
The Royals' trade for Ervin Santana was the best move of the offseason, ESPN's Buster Olney writes. Santana has posted a 2.97 ERA with 7.1 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9 in a resurgent season in Kansas City. Right behind the Santana deal, Olney says, was the Braves' deal for Justin Upton and Chris Johnson, followed by the Orioles' signing of Nate McLouth. Here are more notes from around the big leagues.
- Olney's ESPN colleague Jerry Crasnick writes about Francisco Liriano's surprising season with the Pirates. Sure enough, just hours after Crasnick's article was published, Liriano allowed ten runs against the Rockies at Coors Field. But he has still been a big part of the Pirates' stellar year, and for very cheap — Liriano has a complex contract based on the timing of his return from a broken humerus suffered last offseason, but the deal tops out at $4.75MM for 2013, and includes a reasonable vesting option for 2014. Crasnick also names the Rays' James Loney, the Mets' Marlon Byrd, and others as being among the best cheap signings of the offseason.
- Astros manager Bo Porter isn't planning on returning to Washington to manage the Nationals after Davey Johnson retires at the end of the season, Brian McTaggart and Chris Abshire of MLB.com report. "I'm the Houston Astros manager," says Porter. "I'm 100 percent entrenched into getting our situation here to where it is we want to be. The situation in Washington is completely out of my hands and — I'm going to give you my famous one — out of my jurisdiction." Porter is in the midst of a multi-year contract with the Astros, McTaggart and Abshire note, and could only leave for the Nats if the Astros decided to trade him or just let him depart. Neither scenario seems likely, however.
- Jeff Samardzija has struggled recently, but the Cubs don't think his contract situation has anything to do with it, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Samardzija allowed nine runs on Thursday against the Phillies, four starts after allowing nine against the Angels. "We’ve had some dialogue at different times, but nothing’s really changed on that front, so I don’t see why he would start pressing now as opposed to other times," says Cubs GM Jed Hoyer. Before the non-waiver trade deadline, Samardzija's name occasionally appeared in trade rumors, but it never looked particularly likely that the Cubs would deal him. The two sides reportedly will discuss a contract extension after the season is over. Samardzija is eligible for free agency after 2015.
Minor Moves: Moore, Lillibridge, Martinez
Today's minor moves from around the league…
- Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star tweets that the Royals have requested release waivers on catcher Adam Moore. A one-time top prospect in the Mariners system, Moore has appeared in just 11 games since the 2011 season. In 271 Major League plate appearances, the now-29-year-old Moore has batted .200/.237/.310. He's been significantly better at the Triple-A level, where he owns a career slash line of .273/.333/.427 in 887 plate appearances. Moore's release will allow the Royals to select the contract of left-hander Francisley Bueno.
- The Yankees outrighted Brent Lillibridge to Triple-A after he cleared waivers, according to Daniel Barbarisi of the Wall Street Journal (Twitter link). Lillibridge was designated for assignment on Monday after batting .171/.194/.200 in 37 plate appearances for the Yankees.
- The Indians announced (via Twitter) that they have released right-hander Fabio Martinez from Class-A Carolina. The 23-year-old was on the 40-man roster for the club at one point last season but has seen his command decline rapidly. In his last 57 1/3 minor league innings, Martinez has walked 75 batters en route to an ERA north of 10.00. He does miss plenty of bats, however, as he's whiffed 67 hitters in those 57 1/3 frames. Martinez was originally signed by the Angels out of the Dominican Republic.
- Five players are currently in DFA limbo: Laynce Nix of the Phillies, Josh Sullivan of the Rockies, Mark Reynolds of the Indians, Travis Blackley of the Astros and Guillermo Quiroz of the Giants.
Quick Hits: Declining Prospects, Waivers, Phillies, Valdespin
In his latest Insider-only piece for ESPN, Keith Law examines some of the prospects whose stock has fallen this season due to poor performance and diminished tools. Cleveland's Trevor Bauer and Kansas City's Bubba Starling are the first mentioned on Law's list of eight. Here's more from around the league…
- Rangers general manager Jon Daniels appeared on the Inside Pitch show with MLB Network Radio's Jim Bowden today and told him that teams are waiting longer to place players on waivers in August in recent years. Teams are waiting for there to be fewer buyers before attempting to sneak players through waivers, he elaborated (Twitter links).
- The bullpen will once again be an area of focus for Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. this offseason, writes Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Gelb examines the struggles the Phillies have had in developing relievers, noting that Ryan Madson and Antonio Bastardo have been the only two reliable bullpen arms developed in-house by the Phils over the past decade.
- The Mets have given no consideration to releasing troubled utility man Jordany Valdespin in light of his 50-game suspension and recent temper issues, GM Sandy Alderson told MLB.com's Anthony DiComo (Twitter link).
- Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic spoke with new Diamondbacks reliever Matt Stites about his inclusion in last week's Ian Kennedy trade. Stites is likely done for the season after an emergency appendectomy, but the Snakes have high hopes that he will be a big factor in their bullpen for years to come, writes Piecoro.