It Is About The Money: An Interview with Darrell Rasner

Following my interview with agent Matt Sosnick, I asked Matt if it would be OK to interview one of his players. Being in New York and sucker for the low-down from one of the less-heralded players, I checked if the Yanks Darrell Rasner would be amenable. I was able to send Darrell a list of questions and he was kind enough to answer such topics as dealing with adversity, Metallica, his training regimen, Joe Girardi, and providing us with a player’s view inside the lockerroom. Oh yeah, and being appreciative for being paid to play this game.

IIATMS: Are you a fan of the game, of its history? Casual or intense?

DR: I love the history of the game. I like looking over stats of old hall-of-famers and watching film of all of the greats of the game.

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IIATMS: Do you read baseball-related books, websites, blogs, etc. or do you look to get away from the game when you are away from the field?

DR: Not at all. When I’m away from the field, I concentrate on my family.

Manny Ramirez apologizes after altercation with Sox’ traveling secretary

Traveling secretary sent flying.

Manny Ramirez shoved Red Sox traveling secretary Jack McCormick to the ground in an argument over Ramirez’ ticket allotment. Several onlookers moved quickly to separate the two.

Ramirez had asked McCormick for 16 tickets for Saturday night’s Red Sox-Astros game, an unusually high number for day-of-game. In addition to handling all travel details for clubs, traveling secretaries also take player ticket requests for both home and away games.

When McCormick cautioned Ramirez that he might not be able to fulfill his request, Ramirez responded by shouting: “Just do your job!”

An argument insued and Ramirez pushed McCormick, sending him to the ground.

Later, the two met behind closed doors and Ramirez apologized to McCormick, who accepted the gesture. No further disciplinary action is expected against Ramirez.

THT: Jaffe: Ten things I didn’t know before SABR 38

Chris Jaffe takes in the SABR conven...BREAKING NEWS! Joe Dimino snaps wrist playing punchball: Bernie Williams to be slingbearer!

4. I’m sooooooo very tired of clutch hitting studies

By far the biggest names slated for Cleveland were longtime sabermetric lions Pete Palmer and Dick Cramer, who co-presented a section responding to Bill James’s “Understanding the Fog” article from the Baseball Research Journal from a few years ago.

This confirmed for me something I’ve long since believed. It wasn’t that clutch hitting can’t be shown to exist even if you account for James’ fog (which was their main point). It was about the entire debate. It’s the same damn back-and-forth. You’ll never be able to prove definitively that clutch ability doesn’t exist (that’s difficult with anything) and a rigorously mathematical approach will show at most only limited clutch ability.

It’s one thing if some random study of the issue by Billy Joe Robidiminoux does a study that leaves me flat, but these aren’t just any two random guys from Tacoma.

By and large, the air has become stagnant on this issue and the whole line of questioning is suffering. You know what someone will say about the issue before he opens his mouth. This dead horse keeps getting beaten.

Padres organization soon could reach crossroads in woeful season

A week ago, Sandy Alderson was waffling. He was wiggling. He was waiting. Rather than pick a pigeonhole he might later wish to leave, the Padres’ Harvard-trained CEO cleverly characterized his ballclub not as buyers or sellers, but as watchers; “observers of our own team.”

It would appear he has now seen enough.

“It’s probably easier to see us as sellers at this point,” Alderson acknowledged during Sunday’s 9-2 loss to the Seattle Mariners. “If we were to be buyers, it would be hard to choose among catcher, shortstop, outfielder, starting pitcher, half the bullpen. There’s not a shopping cart big enough.”

This problem is commonly known in baseball markets as the Ruprecht’s Cube.

Tomase: Hall of fame hurlers weigh in on Curt Schilling’s candidacy for Cooperstown

I had trouble hearing Bob Feller during his SABR open ceremony speech (proper miking in a foxhole still has a long way to go, I guess).

Bob Feller gives a lot of weight to Schilling’s postseason performances, even if he’s not quite down with the most famous one, when Schilling took the hill with a bloody sock following experimental ankle surgery and earned victories in the 2004 ALCS and World Series. The sock, for what it’s worth, is already in Cooperstown.

“I think of some of the caliber of games that he pitched and won,” Feller said. “Three times he pitched games and his team won the World Series. He’s a competitor. I always wanted the guy who could pitch with a one-run lead or a tie and he was one of those guys.”

Feller is less effusive about the hubbub that accompanied the bloody sock, though he doesn’t blame Schilling so much as the media.

“That was a little bit overdone,” he said. “It wasn’t a war wound. Baseball is only a game. We don’t do anything that serious. It has nothing to do with the fate of the United States. He’s not a kid going to war. We get carried away sometimes.”

Dodgers’ Juan Pierre to get MRI exam on hurt knee (RR)

...will have trouble walking.

Juan Pierre didn’t travel with the Dodgers to Houston on Sunday, remaining in Los Angeles to undergo an MRI exam today to determine the extent of damage to the left knee that he hurt in the sixth inning of a 1-0 loss to the Angels.

A decision of whether to put Pierre on the ever-growing disabled list will remain on hold until team physician Dr. Neal ElAttrache diagnoses the injury, but Manager Joe Torre said, “Obviously, for him to come out of a ballgame, it’s more than just a bruise, you would think.”

Pierre, who has never been on the disabled list in nine major-league seasons, declined to comment through a team spokesperson.

Boston Herald: Red Sox dealing with threat

The Red Sox and Major League Baseball have dispatched security teams to St. Petersburg, Fla., for the next three days due to a recent threat made against the club’s players.

According to sources, the Sox recently received a mailed threat, believed to be postmarked in Memphis, Tenn., which targeted black and Latin players, citing at least two by name. The named players have been informed about the threats and will likely have security accompaniment away from Tropicana Field, including at the team’s hotel in St. Petersburg.

The Sox are sending at least two of their top security officials, while another security team is due from MLB’s office in New York. The FBI and police departments in St. Petersburg, Boston, Memphis and Baltimore have been apprised of the threats, which are a federal crime.

According to a source, law-enforcement authorities have been looking for a suspect believed to be from Baltimore but living in the Memphis area. By all indications, he is not in custody yet.

Uhh...Could that “source” be “Minor Threat Source”? 

Oakland Wins Inoa Sweepstakes

According to industry sources, Inoa, represented by Adam Katz of WMG, has agreed to terms with the A’s for a $4.25 million signing bonus. Other clubs pursuing Inoa, including the Rangers, Reds and Yankees, were told this weekend that the deal was done, and that A’s general manager Billy Beane would announce the signing this week.

The Yankees initially were the leader for Inoa, reportedly agreeing to terms with Inoa’s Dominican buscon on a deal with a $2.7 million bonus. However, multiple sources have indicated that Katz was then brought into the deal and raised the signing bar to a minimum of $3.5 million. The Yankees reportedly dropped out at that point, in principle over having had a deal struck and then taken away.

How can the Yankees and teams of similar ilk expect to compete when the system is rigged for teams like the A’s?

(Oliver) Pérez Shows His Good Side, Which Is Bad for the Yanks (RR)

Pérez was also implementing the advice of Warthen and the bullpen coach Guy Conti. In spring training, when Warthen was the Class AAA New Orleans pitching coach, he watched Pérez and made mental notes of adjustments he would recommend. Warthen suggested he move to the middle of the rubber from the far right side, a change that would improve his ability to pitch inside to right-handed hitters and away to left-handers.

He also mentioned the Cardinals great Bob Gibson, whose arm angle was similar to Pérez’s, and advocated adding a slight rock to Pérez’s motion that would give him momentum as he strode toward the plate. Before, he fell off to the side.

“These are not things necessarily that Santana will do, but people with his delivery need to do,” said Warthen, distinguishing Pérez from the Mets’ other left-handed starter, Johan Santana. “He had better life on the fastball all the way through, and I think that’s the biggest difference. Ollie likes to throw the baseball with velocity. Before, he would stand up and fall toward home plate, and that just leaves you to throw all arm, 88 miles an hour, straight fastballs. That ain’t cutting it.”

One start is one start, and that’s especially true for a guy who is consistently inconsistent as Perez but he was certainly throwing harder against the Yankees than he has all season.

ESPN:  Kirkjian:  Weaver’s No-Hitter

In the divisional era (since 1969), there have been three no-hitters in which a run was scored by the losing team: Darryl Kile allowed one in his no-hitter in 1993, Joe Cowley in his in 1986, and Blue Moon Odom and Francisco Barrios in their combined no-hitter in 1976.

No love for Melido Perez in 1990?  I had a SWEET baseball card (Donruss, I think) of it.

Posnanski:  First Class

Hall of Fame discussion, amazingly having nothing to do with Curt Schilling.  Focuses mainly on Jackie Robinson.

I see Bert Blyleven as a no doubt Hall of Famer…

Agreed.

PPG:  Kovacevic:  Pirates’ First Half

Worst personnel move: The wasting of $300,000 on a lifeless Byung-Hyun Kim in spring training stands out, but nothing looked worse than recalling Bryan Bullington for two weeks without having him pitch. It was a public display of a lack of confidence that benefited neither the team nor the athlete.

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Worst front-office move: Agreeing with the Yankees to let Billy Crystal face Paul Maholm in a spring exhibition. No possible outcome could have benefited the Pirates or Maholm, as it cast them and their pitcher in the role of Washington Generals for a day.

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Worst managerial move: It might have been ordering the batting champion Sanchez to bunt as a pinch-hitter last Sunday, then watching Sanchez foul out to end a run of five consecutive singles for the team. It hardly cost the Pirates the game, but it did underscore Russell’s tendency to give away outs too freely.

Criticism of Kim and the Billy Crystal thing are always welcomed, though criticism of asking a guy hitting .232 to sac bun seems a little much.

Saberscouting: International Free Agent Reports

Something you can look for as an ongoing theme for these scouting reports is that I’ll mention a prospect that’s mostly projection, that would get $500,000 to $750,000 in most years, but this year will get that price pushed up by $250,000 to $500,000, due to demand. The supply is good this year, with a strong crop of talent, but the demand, especially at the top of the talent scale, is higher.

I suppose at some point, when every top player has their perceived value boosted that much, the effect may not be teams overpaying, but that we’re just seeing the new market.

That would be the market correction that competition brings to offset the bargains that the old July 2nd market had; the bargains that enticed all the teams to open up shop in Latin America in the first place.

Commie Ball: A Journey to the End of a Revolution

Some of the greatest baseball players the world has never seen are in Cuba, where their talent is government property, and their only chance of turning pro is the risky boat ride to Florida. Gus Dominguez, an L.A. sports agent, has done more than anyone to help escaped players join major-league U.S. teams, but now he sits in a California jail, convicted of smuggling athletes. The author flies to Havana for an unprecedented scouting of the island’s stars as he reports on the twisted dynamics behind the Dominguez case.
by Michael Lewis July 2008

MLB.com: Milledge placed on disabled list

Lastings Milledge was placed on the 15-day disabled list during Saturday night’s game against the Orioles after injuring his right groin while sliding to the ground, trying reach an Alex Cintron triple that rolled all the way to the left-center-field wall.
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The Nationals called up outfielder Roger Bernadina from Double-A Harrisburg to take Milledge’s place on the roster.
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Coming into action on Saturday, the 24-year-old Bernadina was hitting .325 with five home runs and 38 RBIs at Harrisburg. In addition to hitting 11 doubles and seven triples, Bernadina also displayed speed on the basepaths, stealing 26 bases. His speed and defensive play led Baseball America to rate him Washington’s best defensive outfielder and fastest baserunner in the Minor Leagues.
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Milledge’s injury means that Christian Guzman is the only Opening Day starter not to spend time on the DL.

“It’s tough for the team,” Milledge said. “It’s another starter that goes down. It’s kind of tough right now, the situation that we’re in.”

Baltimore Sun: [Jay] Gibbons so close, yet far

So [Jay Gibbons] joined the Ducks, a club filled with ex-major leaguers, including former All-Star Carl Everett.

“It’s a league of misfortune,” said Everett, who had a 14-season career in the majors that includes a World Series ring and dustups with umpires, managers and the media. “A lot of times mistakes are made by whomever, whether it is the club on judgment or the player. If you are one of those players that they made a mistake on you, you are going to hope someone else sees you.”
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[Gibbon]’s riding a bus and playing for a few thousand dollars a month in 5,000-seat stadiums that feature such events as fans wrestling in sumo suits and a kids’ sack race between innings.

“It’s a total time warp taking me back to the minor leagues,” he said. “It is just so different than anything I have experienced in the last eight years.”

On Friday, Gibbons was the Pizza Hut K-Man of the Game, meaning that if he struck out at least once, all the fans would get a free order of breadsticks the next time they visited Pizza Hut. With the crowd chanting “breadsticks,” he fanned on three pitches. It was one of three strikeouts he had that night, giving him 11 in his first 44 at-bats.

Tampa Tribune: Pirates’ Bay Makes Rays Pay

The headline writer at the Tampa Tribune likely gave him/herself a self-pat on the back after that one…

The game that looked as if it might never get started didn’t seem to want to end.

It finally did, though, with one big two-strike, two-out swing from Pirates left fielder Jason Bay in the bottom of the 13th inning that gave Pittsburgh a 4-3 victory Saturday against the Rays.

Bay rocketed a 2-2 pitch from Jason Hammel into the bullpen beyond the center-field wall to send the Pirates streaming out of their dugout in celebration after 3 hours, 53 minutes of play — not including the 42-minute rain delay before the game even began.
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The loss cost the Rays a chance to move into first place, and in fact a win would have given them the best record in baseball after the Cubs and Red Sox lost earlier Saturday.
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Jonny Gomes made sure the proceedings got to extra innings with an epic at-bat leading off the eighth inning. The slugger hasn’t seen much playing time lately, but he watched a game’s worth of pitches from Damaso Marte — 15 of them, nine of which he fouled off — before crushing the last of them over the center field wall to make it 3-3.

MLB.com: No hits, no problem for Dodgers in win

The Dodgers have been trying to win without hitting all year and Saturday night they literally did.

They were held hitless by Angels starter Jered Weaver and reliever Jose Arredondo, but recorded a 1-0 win anyway with an unearned run in the fifth inning. It was only the fifth time since 1900 a Major League team won a game without a hit.
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Chad Billingsley lost the battle with Weaver, allowing three hits over seven innings, but won the war by combining with Jonathan Broxton and Takashi Saito as the Dodgers recorded their second consecutive shutout against the Angels in the Interleague Freeway Series.
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Although by MLB rules it doesn’t officially qualify as a no-hitter because the Angels didn’t pitch nine innings, it was the first time the Dodgers were no-hit since Kent Mercker and Atlanta, April 8, 1994; the first time a Dodgers team won a game without a hit and the first time any team won a game without a hit since 1992, when the Indians beat Boston and former Dodgers pitcher Matt Young.

“We’ll try to win with one hit tomorrow and work our way up,” said general manager Ned Colletti.

Weaver was lifted for a pinch-hitter by Angels manager Mike Scioscia trailing by a run in the top of the seventh inning, despite having no-hit the Dodgers through six innings, having allowed two walks. It was Weaver’s fielding error that set up the unearned run.

Newsday: Davidoff - Santana keeps getting aced out

That’s five straight starts without a victory, for either Santana or his team, and we’re at the point now where it’s all right to point gently at the Mets’ ace and say that so far, he hasn’t quite lived up to the hope and hype with which he arrived.

Santana’s 7-7 mark doesn’t faze this space; we’re all intelligent enough to know that won-loss records can be terribly misleading. No, it’s more the sense that Santana isn’t what he once was. And that he doesn’t, or can’t, put the team on his back and carry it the way you would expect from someone of his caliber. Not in actions and not in words.
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Look, the guy has a 3.01 ERA, and his 103 strikeouts rank third in the National League. Nevertheless, there’s something missing.

We know the Mets’ offense largely stinks. But couldn’t Santana just once get a 1-0 lead, as he did Saturday, and carry the baton to victory? Of this five-game stretch, the only one for which he couldn’t have done any more was the June 12 start here against Arizona, when the bullpen gave up his 4-0 advantage. Otherwise, he’s getting outperformed in low-scoring games.

He picked up eight strikeouts Saturday, expending 113 pitches in six innings against the Yankees’ deep, patient lineup. Yet here’s what a veteran scout, present at the game, said in his evaluation:

“That’s not the Santana that I remember seeing. The fastball isn’t as lively. He touched 92 . The slider wasn’t great. He had a decent changeup. It was good enough to win—on a better team, with more support on offense and defense, he’d win 15, 16, 18 games—but he’s not the Santana the Mets went out and paid all of that money to get.”

Camden Depot: How could Viagra work?

The specificity of Viagra makes it initially out to be an unlikely PED. Studies have shown that this compound can help with pulmonary vasodilation in newborns and patients with severe heart conditions. Furthermore, in 2006 Hsu et al. found that Viagra could improve athletic performance by 40% at 10,000 ft. No dose dependant relationship was observed. Nor was this effect observable at lower altitudes. Experiments at lower elevations were followed up using Cialis (another PDE 5 inhibitor, but certainly different) by Di Luigi et al (2008) and found that under these conditions there were no observable effects. It appears that Viagra’s vasodilatory effect works, but only in cases of severe hypoxia. Arguably, baseball players may experience this at Coor’s field (5200 ft). I doubt it.

London Free Press: Four inducted into Canadian baseball hall of fame

The latest from Canada’s version of Cooperstown—St. Marys, Ontario:

Tony Fernandez, Billy Harris, Gladwyn Scott, and the late Peter Widdrington were honoured, surrounded by family, friends and fans. And each was met by a standing ovation.

The induction ceremony took place under a big tent and the crowd spilled out on all three sides as people gathered to catch a glimpse of history in the making.

MLB.com: Phillies may move Myers to bullpen

A day after the shortest outing of [Brett] Myers’ career, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel and pitching Rich Dubee acknowledged the possibility that the right-hander may not make his next start, scheduled for Thursday in Atlanta, the final game of a 10-day road trip.

“We’ll see what we’re going to do about it,” Manuel said.

Myers is testing the patience of his manager and pitching coach and appears to be in his own head more than ever. He declined to speak after his two-plus inning stint on Friday—in which he blew a 5-1 lead in the third by allowing five straight Rangers to reach base—and didn’t want to talk on Saturday, either.
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Myers’ lack of confidence in his heater is getting the best of him.

“Somewhere, he lost that edge,” Dubee said. “Some of it is delivery. Sometimes it’s approach. Sometimes you have to trust your stuff and get after it. We’ll try to get him to mix. We try to get him to establish his curveball with his fastball, and then all of a sudden, he doesn’t establish his fastball. He has to find the right approach. It’s like a ping-pong ball. He keeps going back and forth.”

Though Dubee acknowledged that the team saw “a different animal” with Myers in the bullpen, Manuel thought that was because he was happy closing. If the team were to make a change, Myers could pitch in middle relief.

NY Times: A Few Swings Turn Giambi’s Season Around (RR)

If Giambi has truly not thought about the [All-Star] game, he definitely did after he was quizzed about being at Yankee Stadium on July 15. “That would be awesome,” said Giambi, the Yankees’ first baseman. “That would be cool.”

It would be a “cool” development for Giambi, who performed for the first month of the season like someone who might not deserve a roster spot by the All-Star break. Giambi batted .150 across the first 26 games, the lowest average in the major leagues. He was collecting walks and not striking out a lot, but Giambi thought every ball found a glove instead of a gap.

“It didn’t feel like I was hitting .150,” Giambi said. “But you look up at the scoreboard, and it’s still .150 at the end of the day.”

The former .150 hitter has returned to being one of the most productive first basemen in the league. Since his sluggish start, he is batting .331. Giambi has 17 homers, a .404 on-base percentage and a .555 slugging percentage, numbers that lead all A.L. first basemen and are in the top five in the league.

Baseball Time in Arlington: Top 25 Prospect Rankings

Unprecedented.

There is simply no other way to accurately - or succinctly - describe the remarkable minor league overhaul conducted by Texas Rangers general manager Jon Daniels and his estimable cabinet of lieutenants over the past 12-odd months.
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● Our actual ranking methodology is comprised of a multitude of variables, including upside, tools, proximity to the big leagues, age, statistics, and - in a few cases - our gut instincts. Talent trumps all, of course.

● Statistics are only from that respective player’s most recent stop; for instance, Chris Davis’s dominant statistical line at Double-A Frisco is not included, even though he has received more playing time there this season than at Triple-A Oklahoma. In the rare instances where 2008 statistics are not available, 2007 statistics are listed with a notation.

SABR convention welcomes congregation of baseball’s most devoted - Cleveland Sports News

Here’s an account of the SABR convention without cracks about attendees living with their mothers.

Newsday: Eventful day ends at Shea as teams split blowouts

The Yankees got even in the nightcap at Shea Stadium behind an even more unlikely star. Sidney Ponson, called up before the game for his second stint in pinstripes, outdueled Pedro Martinez in a 9-0 Yankees victory.
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Ponson, released by pitching-poor Texas for being more trouble than he’s worth despite a 4-1 record, threw six shutout innings. He twice worked out of bases-loaded jams, coming back with none out in the second and one out in the third. In the second, he struck out Martinez, got Jose Reyes to pop up and induced Castillo to hit into a forceout. In the third, he got Ramon Castro to hit into a double play.

Martinez (2-2) saw his ERA balloon to 7.12 after he allowed six runs, six hits and five walks (one intentional) in 5 2/3 innings. The Yankees scored two runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth and three in the seventh.

Baseball IS a funny game, isn’t it?

MLB.com: [Miguel] Batista’s health issues surprise Mariners

If veteran pitcher Miguel Batista experiences any sort of physical discomfort, interim manager Jim Riggleman, pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre and the training staff would like to know about it. They were surprised to learn of the health issues Batista talked about following the brief and ineffective outing against the Mets on Wednesday night in New York. The right-hander surrendered eight runs in 2 2/3 innings in a game Seattle lost.
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As of Friday night, there were no plans to put Batista on the 15-day disabled list.

Lee Pelekoudas, the Mariners’ interim general manager, was in the process late Friday afternoon of “researching” the information that Batista provided during his postgame interview with the media.

“I have not had a chance to talk to Miguel about it, but if we ever have first-hand knowledge that a guy is having medical problems, we are not going to put them on the field,” he said.
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“I think he was just feeling something there and tried to gut it out and pitch. While I appreciate the effort, it probably would serve himself, and the team, better if he had it treated instead of trying to pitch through it,” [Riggelman said].

FOX: Rosenthal - Bullpen management proving to be Girardi’s strength

Since there was a call for some RoboRumors…

The Brewers’ acquisition of reliever Scott Linebrink before last year’s non-waiver deadline offered a glimpse of their strategy in trading for a potential free agent — one they could reprise in their quest to land Indians left-hander C.C. Sabathia.
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Linebrink didn’t get the Brewers to the postseason, but Milwaukee received two compensation picks when he signed with the Chicago White Sox as a free agent… The loss of reliever Francisco Cordero as a free agent yielded two more premium picks, giving Milwaukee six of the first 62 choices. The Brewers could end up with a similar windfall next year if they acquire Sabathia, then lose both him and right-hander Ben Sheets in free agency. Yes, their rotation would suffer, but the team will be getting back righty Yovani Gallardo, who is out for the season after undergoing knee surgery.

Make no mistake: Major-league teams exist to win World Series, not collect draft picks. Still, the Brewers are so good at drafting and developing, they can have it both ways.
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After Sabathia, the Indians’ player drawing the most trade interest is third baseman Casey Blake, who leads the majors with a 1.281 OPS with runners in scoring position
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The Royals keep getting hits on right-hander Zack Grienke; the Phillies and Brewers apparently expressed interest, and the Braves have tried to acquire Grienke at least twice in recent years. The Royals, however, remain decidedly uninterested in moving Grienke, whom they control through 2010.

MLB.com: Swisher helps White Sox slam Cubs

The tale of Friday’s 10-3 victory for the White Sox over the Cubs, breaking a six-game losing streak against their neighbors to the North, certainly could be told by examining nothing more than the third inning.

In the top half of the frame, White Sox starter Jose Contreras escaped a bases-loaded, one-out jam without being scored upon. In the bottom of the inning, the White Sox (44-35) erupted for seven runs against Ryan Dempster (9-3).
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When playing at home this year, the White Sox always seem to have a little extra energy in their step. The Cubs became the South Siders’ 13th victim in their last 15 games at U.S. Cellular, the same sort of home-field dominance featured by the Cubs and most playoff contenders.

“Maybe we like the fans, I guess,” said [Orlando] Cabrera about the team’s strong play at home. “We definitely are a different team at home than on the road.”

Neither the Cards (4.5 GB) nor the Brewers (5.5 GB) were able to take advantage of the Cubs’ loss, however.

SportTicker: Padres agree to terms with RHP Tomko

The San Diego Padres and righthander Brett Tomko on Friday agreed to terms on a contract. Terms were not disclosed.

Tomko was 2-7 with a 6.97 ERA in 16 games with the Kansas City Royals this season before he was designated for assignment on June 12. The 35-year-old also pitched for the Padres in 2002 and 2007.