Tigers,Astros,Blue Jays, Yankees, Mariners and Rockies news
The Tigers have sent down rookie reliever Bruce Rondon to Triple-A Toledo. Rondon was slated to be the Tigers’ closer this season. He struggled mightily this spring against big league hitters (2-1 record with 5.87 ERA and a .327 AVG against in 13 spring training games). The Tigers will start the season with a closer by committee.
Brad Peacock has been named the #4 starter in the Astros’ rotation. Peacock was acquired by the Astros as part of the Jed Lowrie trade to the A’s during the off-season. He had a 12-9 record with an ERA of 6.01 in 25 starts last season for the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats. Peacock had a 0-1 record with an ERA of 3.20 and a .225 AVG against in 7 spring appearances.
J.A. Happ has agreed to a two year contract extension with the Blue Jays. The extension is worth a total of 8.9 million dollars. Happ will be the #5 starter in the Blue Jays rotation. He beat out Ricky Romero for the last spot in the rotation. Happ had a spring record of 1-1 with an ERA of 1.90 in 7 appearances.
The Yankees have released 1B/OF Juan Rivera. Rivera was signed to a minor league contract during the off-season. He became expendable after the club acquired Ben Francisco and Lyle Overbay during spring training.
M’s OF/1B Michael Morse has set the club’s spring training home run record for a player. Morse hit his 9th home run of the spring in 2nd of today’s Mariners/Cubs game off Carlos Villanueva. The Mariners have set a team spring training record with 56 home runs and counting.
Rockies have signed pitcher Aaron Cook to a minor league contract. He was released by the Phillies earlier in the week. This will be Cook’s 2nd stint with the Rockies. Cook had a 72-68 record and an ERA of 4.53 in 206 starts over 10 years with the Rockies. He had a 4-11 record with an ERA of 5.65 in 18 starts for the Red Sox last season. Cook will provide depth in the minor league ranks and can be called upon if one of the major league starters struggles or has an injury.
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