The Kansas City Royals traded first baseman Ross Gload and cash to the Florida Marlins on Wednesday for a player to be named.
Kansas City also optioned right-hander Brian Bannister to Triple-A Omaha and released right-hander Joel Peralta. Left-hander John Bale, who is recovering from thyroid surgery, was placed on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to March 27.
Manager Trey Hillman said Sidney Ponson would be the fourth starter and work the home opener April 10 against the New York Yankees. Left-hander Horacio Ramirez will be the No. 5 starter but also would work out of the bullpen.
Gload hit .280 in 22 games for the Royals in spring training. He was acquired from the White Sox in 2006 and hit .273 in a career-high 122 games last season.
"As long as there is a uniform on the other side there's an opportunity," Gload said. "I think I can fit in well with a National League ballclub. Ideally, I would have liked to been here. I wish there was a spot."
Kansas City agreed to pay most of Gload's $1.9 million contract. General manager Dayton Moore said the Royals would receive a minor leaguer in the deal.
GLAVINE IMPRESSES FOR BRAVES (8:38 p.m. ET)
Tom Glavine passed his final spring test Wednesday.
The left-hander tossed five innings in Atlanta's 9-3 victory
over the Detroit Tigers and will pitch in two minor league games
before making his season debut for the Braves on April 18.
"He threw great," manager Bobby Cox said. "That's what he
does. He's at the top of his game and when the 18th rolls around,
he'll be ready to go."
Glavine gave up three runs and seven hits, including Curtis
Granderson's two-run homer in the third inning. Glavine made only
13 starts a year ago for Atlanta, going 2-4 with a 5.54 ERA before
his season was cut short by an elbow injury.
He went on the disabled list for the first time in his 22-year
career, undergoing surgery to repair a torn flexor tendon and clean
up his shoulder.
"I feel better than I did last week," said Glavine, who leads
all active pitchers with 305 wins. "I had some uncertainty about
what was left but I feel a lot better now. I just made one mistake.
I tried to throw it too hard on a fastball to Granderson and he
homered. It happens."
A'S ANNOUNCE ROTATION (8:27 p.m. ET)
Athletics' manager Bob Geren finally announced the team's rotation after Wednesday's 8-8 tie with the Cubs.
Dallas Braden, who gave up six runs in five innings, will be the Opening Day starter, as expected. He'll be followed by Trevor Cahill, Dana Eveland, Brett Anderson and Josh Outman.
Sean Gallagher, who began the season penciled into the No. 2 spot, is now "competing for a bullpen spot," Geren said.
"What I'm looking for from him this spring was to attack the strike zone a little better," Geren said. "I'm looking for his stuff to be a little crisper."
Cahill and Anderson, the A's highly touted pair of 21-year-olds, will each be making their big league debuts. Neither has pitched a regular season game above Double-A. Cahill will start the second game in Anaheim, about an hour from his home in the San Diego area.
"It's awesome," Cahill said. "I'm still shaking. All my friends are already asking me for tickets."
Braden said the news that he was going to get the Opening Day start took some of the sting out of a poor performance against the Cubs.
"When you think about it you've been given a go ahead from an entire organization, a front office, to try and get the season off on the right foot, to try to set the tone," Braden said. "And you know what? I think we're all ready to have this spring come to an end and kind of get it crackin' for real."
TOP TIGERS PROPECTS MAKE CUT (7:09 p.m. ET)
Top Tigers pitching prospects Rick Porcello and Kyle Perry found out Wednesday they made the opening day roster. Porcello, selected in the first round of the 2007 draft, and Perry, Detroit's first-round pick last year, haven't pitched above Class A.
Both were impressive all spring and manager Jim Leyland, who is in the final year of his contract, said he had no choice but to keep them.
"They were better than everyone else we had," he said. "They deserved the job."
Leyland said he had no doubts and it was an unanimous decision between the organization and coaches that the two were ready for the big leagues.
"If people say we rushed them, I will take the blame," Leyland said. "All you have to do is look at them and know they are ready."
Porcello earned a spot in the rotation and Perry will pitch out of the bullpen.
ISRINGHAUSEN TO START SEASON ON DL (6:42 p.m. ET)
Although Rays manager Joe Maddon has not officially set the roster, several important decisions were made Wednesday.
Reliever Jason Isringhausen will begin the season on the disabled list, giving him additional time to build arm strength following elbow surgery. The move won't be made until Sunday, when injured outfielders B.J. Upton and Fernando Perez and reliever Chad Bradford also will go on the DL.
"I only had six innings since elbow surgery, and we all agreed I need a few more innings to get to where I want to be with my mechanics and my arm strength and stuff, so this is the right thing to do," said Isringhausen, who spent the past seven seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals and has 293 career saves.
Meanwhile, second baseman Adam Kennedy, first baseman Chris Richard, infielder Ray Olmedo, catcher Michel Hernandez and outfielders Jon Weber and Ray Sadler have been told they will not make the team and will be reassigned to minor league camp after Saturday's exhibition in Philadelphia.
Matt Joyce, obtained in an offseason trade that sent starting pitcher Edwin Jackson to the Detroit Tigers, beat out Justin Ruggiano for a spot as the fourth outfielder -- even if it may wind up being until the April 13 home opener, when Upton hopes to be fully recovered from shoulder surgery.
BENSON MAKES ROTATION (5:14 p.m. ET)
Right-hander Kris Benson, who last pitched
in the majors in 2006, has made the Texas Rangers' starting
rotation.
General manager Jon Daniels said Wednesday that Benson will be a
starter, a move that pushes right-hander Scott Feldman to the
bullpen. Benson is 2-0 with a 4.76 ERA in five spring games.
Benson, the No. 1 overall pick by Pittsburgh in 1996, missed
2007 after surgery to repair a torn right rotator cuff. He was 1-4
with a 5.52 ERA in 11 starts last year for Lehigh Valley,
Philadelphia's Triple-A team, before the Phillies released him Aug.
30.
Jason Jennings, a starter plagued by elbow problems the last two
seasons, will start the season in the bullpen.
SABATHIA HIT SCARES YANKEES (4:52 p.m. ET)
The Yankees got a major scare in Opening Day starter CC Sabathia's final spring training start. The left-hander had Jason Ellison's line-drive RBI single go off his glove in the second inning of New York's 8-5 win over the Phillies.
Sabathia remained in the game and wound up allowing two runs and six hits over 3 2/3 innings. He struck out five and walked one during a 70-pitch outing.
CARDS PUSH BACK TIMETABLE FOR GLAUS' RETURN (4:42 p.m. ET)
Third baseman Troy Glaus is expected to miss at least two months following a setback in his rehabilitation from arthroscopic shoulder surgery in January. Glaus was originally expected to miss only a few weeks of the regular season. But on Wednesday, the Cardinals said Glaus will be re-evaluated around June 1.
Glaus hit .270 last season with 27 homers and 99 RBIs.
David Freese is the top candidate to start at third with Glaus out. The 25-year-old rookie hit .306 with 26 homers and 91 RBIs at Triple-A Memphis last season.
Glaus traveled to California last week to consult with the doctor who performed the surgery.
Glaus will be in St. Louis for Opening Day on Monday before traveling to Phoenix to continue his rehab.
MARINERS PUT JIMENEZ ON DL, SEND DOWN OLSON (2:32 p.m. ET)
The Seattle Mariners have placed Cesar Jimenez on the 15-day disabled list and optioned Garrett Olson to Triple-A Tacoma, leaving the team without a left-hander in the bullpen to start the season.
The Mariners also sent right-hander Randy Messenger and infielder Chris Shelton, who hit .460 in 25 spring games, to their minor league camp.
Jimenez was placed on the DL with biceps tendinitis, retroactive to March 29. Manager Don Wakamatsu says the team wants Jimenez to be able to throw two innings out of the bullpen and he's not at that point yet.
Olson struggled in two of his last three spring relief appearances, including giving up two runs in two innings on Tuesday.
ORIOLES SWAP PENN TO MARLINS FOR ANDINO (1:49 p.m. ET)
The Baltimore Orioles have acquired infielder Roberto Andino from the Florida Marlins for pitcher Hayden Penn.
The Orioles announced the trade Wednesday.
Penn was 3-6 with a 9.31 ERA in 14 major league starts for the Orioles in 2005-06. The right-hander had 10 minor league starts in 2007 and spent 2008 at Triple-A Norfolk because of bone chips in his right elbow. He was 6-7 with a 4.79 ERA in 21 starts with Norfolk.
Andino has a .201 average (29-for-144) with two home runs and 12 RBIs in 79 games with the Marlins over four seasons. In 2008, Andino batted .206 (13-for-63) with two homers and nine RBIs.
PARK BEATS OUT HAPP AS PHILS' FIFTH STARTER (1:45 p.m. ET)
Chan Ho Park and J.A. Happ both wanted to be the Philadelphia Phillies' fifth starter. But only one could have the job, and the Phillies chose Park on Tuesday.
"J.A. Happ did not lose the job," general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. "Chan Ho Park won it. That does not mean that J.A. Happ pitched his way out of the rotation."
Park, the first Korean to appear in a major league game, wanted to start for the Phillies so he could provide some regular entertainment for fans in his country, which has been hard-hit by the recession. He won it by posting a 2.53 ERA this spring. "Probably [people back home] are very happy and excited about it," Park said, according to the report.
Happ said he would have rather remained in the majors as a reliever than begin the season at Triple-A Lehigh Valley as a starter. "I did all these things to be a big-leaguer," he said, according to the report.
BOSTON OR PAWTUCKET? BUCHHOLZ AWAITS DECISION (1:22 p.m. ET)
Boston right-hander Clay Buchholz had a strong spring training. Whether he starts the season with the Red Sox is now out of his hands.
Buchholz, who struggled in 2008, had been sharp in spring training up until Tuesday, when he let up nine hits and six earned runs in 5 1/3 innings against the Tampa Bay Rays. He must now wait and see how Brad Penny pitches on Thursday to determine whether he will start the season in Boston or with Triple-A Pawtucket. If Penny has a strong outing, he'll likely be Boston's fifth starter.
"I'm the next guy in line," Buchholz said, according to the Boston Herald. "So I'm just going to keep coming out every day and doing my work and then hopefully something good will come out of it. If Brad's healthy, he's definitely going to help the club, so I hope he has good health and goes out and does what he does. If not, I'll be there to back him up."
"I think, all spring, he set out to make decisions hard for us and he's done a terrific job," manager Terry Francona said of Buchholz, according to the report. "He's picked up his tempo, he's attacking with his fastball, his changeup is starting to have that old life to it, and he's thrown some good breaking balls. We're really pleased with him."
INDIANS DEAL MUJICA TO PADRES (1:02 p.m. ET)
The Cleveland Indians have traded right-hander Edward Mujica to the San Diego Padres on Wednesday for future considerations or cash.
Right-hander Jae Kuk Ryu, claimed on waivers by Cleveland from the Padres on Thursday, was returned to San Diego. The deal was voided by major league baseball, and the Indians would not comment on any injury concerns with the 25-year-old South Korean.
Mujica, a 24-year-old native of Venezuela, was out of options with Cleveland after pitching in relief in parts of the past three seasons for the Indians. In 53 games, he went 3-3 with a 6.04 ERA.
KARSTENS EARNS SPOT IN PIRATES' ROTATION (11:20 a.m. ET)
Right-hander Jeff Karstens has won the final spot in the Pittsburgh Pirates' starting rotation.
Karstens locked up the job Wednesday, when the team optioned right-hander Virgil Vasquez to Triple-A Indianapolis. That ended a five-week spring training battle in which neither pitcher dominated.
Karstens pitched in seven games, including three starts. He went 0-2 with a 6.17 ERA and allowed 30 hits and eight walks in 23 1/3 innings.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
