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This time: Oct. 14-25
Previous installment: Oct. 6-13

More 40-man roster maneuvering, a handful of new free agents and one club’s foray into the independent leagues . . . it’s all next on a very special Minor League Transactions.

Check out the Transactions Glossary for the key to deciphering the various inactive lists presented here.

Arizona Diamondbacks
Assigned to Arizona Fall League: RHP Bryan Augenstein, RHP Cesar Valdez, LHP Thomas Layne, LHP Scott Maine, 1B Brandon Allen, SS Pedro Ciriaco, OF Cole Gillespie

Atlanta Braves
Granted free agency: OF Reid Gorecki

Boston Red Sox
Granted free agency: RHP Marcus McBeth, RHP Takashi Saito
Outrighted to Triple-A and removed from 40-man: RHP Takashi Saito

Chicago Cubs
Outrighted to Triple-A and removed from 40-man: 2B Bobby Scales

Chicago White Sox
Released: RHP James Albury, RHP Jarrett Coker, RHP Brent DeFoor, RHP Joucer Martinez, 2B C.J. Lang, OF Johny Celis
Assigned to Arizona Fall League: RHP Sergio Santos

Cincinnati Reds
Assigned to Arizona Fall League: RHP Brad Boxberger

Colorado Rockies
Voluntarily retired: OF Shane Lowe
Outrighted to Triple-A and removed from 40-man: RHP Joel Peralta
Assigned to Arizona Fall League: LHP Matt Reynolds

Detroit Tigers
Granted free agency: 3B Mike Hessman
Assigned to Arizona Fall League: RHP Scot Drucker, RHP Thad Weber, RHP Robbie Weinhardt, LHP Andy Oliver, 2B Scott Sizemore, SS Cale Iorg, OF Casper Wells

Florida Marlins
Signed: RHP Natividad Dilone (re-signed)
Released: RHP Austin Armstrong

Houston Astros
Signed: OF Matt Weston (re-signed)
Released: 1B Ryan Coe
Reinstated from inactive list: 1B Ryan Coe
Assigned to Arizona Fall League: 2B Jose Vallejo

Kansas City Royals
Signed: RHP Jairo Cuevas (re-signed), LHP Carlos Rivas (re-signed), LHP Kelvin Villa (re-signed), 1B Reynaldo Rodriguez (Yuma (Golden)), SS Adam Frost (Winnipeg (Northern))
Released: RHP Carlos Arias, RHP Richard Folmer, RHP Justin Garcia, RHP Luis Ortega, RHP Lee Roberts, RHP Scott Shimek, 1B Diego Cruz, 1B Edwin Henriquez, SS Yeldrys Molina
Assigned to Arizona Fall League: OF Jarrod Dyson

Turning first to the imports . . . the Royals inked the top two independent leagues prospects in Rodriguez and Frost. Follow the link to read J.J. Cooper’s full scouting reports. The 22-year-old Rodriguez batted .335 with six homers and 48 RBIs in 74 games with Yuma. Frost, 23, batted .280 with 30 stolen bases in 84 games for Winnipeg. Rodriguez had been reported to have signed with the Red Sox, so more details to follow.

Notable exports: Arias and Ortega were minor league Rule 5 picks last December. Folmer joined the organization in June as the Royals’ 25th-round pick from Stephen F. Austin. He appeared in 23 games for Rookie-level Idaho Falls, striking out 42 in 33 innings and posting a 4.36 ERA. Roberts (Loyola Marymount) and Shimek (St. Mary’s (Texas)) signed as nondrafted free agents this summer.

Los Angeles Angels
Assigned to Arizona Fall League: RHP Marco Albano, RHP Tim Kiely

Milwaukee Brewers
Signed: RHP Mike Jones (re-signed), OF Johnny Raburn (re-signed)

Jones, a 2001 first-round pick whose career has been interrupted by multiple arm injuries, pitched 127 innings in 2009, the most he’s thrown since 2002. He reached Triple-A for the first time, making four starts.

Minnesota Twins
Released: RHP Ramon Acosta, RHP Edilson Alvarez, RHP Raynard Doran, RHP Kelvin Mota, RHP Leonardo Parra, C Juan Richardson, OF Herbert Lara

New York Mets
Released: 1B Jose Jimenez
Outrighted to Triple-A and removed from 40-man: RHP Carlos Muniz, C Robinson Cancel, 2B Argenis Reyes, SS Wilson Valdez

Oakland Athletics
Granted free agency: RHP Kevin Cameron, RHP Dan Giese, RHP Edgar Gonzalez, C Eric Munson

Philadelphia Phillies
Granted free agency: LHP Jack Taschner
Outrighted to Triple-A and removed from 40-man: LHP Jack Taschner

Pittsburgh Pirates
Granted free agency: RHP Chris Bootcheck
Outrighted to Triple-A and removed from 40-man: RHP Denny Bautista, RHP Chris Bootcheck, RHP Craig Hansen

Hansen lost his spot on the Pirates’ 40-man roster and will have to earn his way back, illustrating that there’s really no such thing as a safe pick in the baseball draft. The Red Sox took him 25th overall in ’05 because his pedigree as a reliever at St. John’s suggested he could quickly assume a big league role. Hansen did make the big leagues quickly—he tossed three innings for Boston that September—but the trouble was, they were ineffective innings. In three years with the Red Sox, he compiled a 6.15 ERA and a 1.67 WHIP over 74 appearances.

Acquired by the Pirates as part of the bounty for Jason Bay at the ’08 trading deadline, Hansen has been startlingly bad in his 21 games for Pittsburgh, compiling a 6.95 ERA and a miserable 12-to-24 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

St. Louis Cardinals
Signed: RHP Pedro Rodriguez
Released: RHP Elvis Hernandez, RHP Tyler Leach, LHP Jonny Bravo, C Jack Cawley, 1B Matt Rigoli, SS Guillermo Toribio

San Diego Padres
Reinstated from DL: RHP Kendall Korbal, RHP Chris Wilkes, LHP Andrew Albers, LHP Euclides Viloria, C Brett Basham
Assigned to Arizona Fall League: RHP Mike DeMark, RHP Brandon Gomes, RHP Evan Scribner, LHP Steve Garrison, C Mitch Canham, SS Lance Zawadzki, OF Cedric Hunter

San Francisco Giants
Assigned to Arizona Fall League: RHP Steve Edlefsen, RHP Joe Martinez, RHP Daniel Turpen, C Buster Posey, SS Brandon Crawford, OF Thomas Neal

Seattle Mariners
Signed: RHP Rich Dorman (re-signed)
Assigned to Arizona Fall League: RHP Phillippe Aumont, 1B Dustin Ackley

Tampa Bay Rays
Signed: LHP Darin Downs (re-signed)
Released: RHP Jordi Amargos, RHP Kevin Boggan, RHP Jesse Darcy, RHP Diego Echeverria, RHP Bladimir Florentino, RHP Jose Mejias, RHP Juan Santana, LHP Glenn Gibson, LHP Ryan Morse, 2B Claudio Fukunaga, OF J.T. Hall, OF Astin Jacobo, OF Ramon Novas, OF Justin Reynolds

The Nationals harbored high hopes for Gibson, an ’06 fourth-round pick, after a strong performance in the New York-Penn League in ’07, which consisted of 12 starts, a 4-3, 3.10 record and a strikeout per inning. They traded him for Elijah Dukes that December, but he never pitched well enough to put short-season ball behind him. His ERA registered at 7.17 in 133 innings as a Rays minor leaguer.

Texas Rangers
Granted free agency: RHP Jason Grilli
Outrighted to Triple-A and removed from 40-man: RHP Jason Grilli, C Kevin Richardson

Toronto Blue Jays
Assigned to Arizona Fall League: RHP Rei Gonzalez, RHP Robert Ray, C A.J. Jimenez, 1B David Cooper, 2B Brad Emaus, OF Adam Loewen

Washington Nationals
Signed: OF Charlie Fermaint (re-signed), OF Jesus Valdez (re-signed)
Outrighted to Triple-A and removed from 40-man: C Jamie Burke, OF Jorge Padilla

Any clue why the Marlins voided Dustin Dickerson’s deal? Did Loria find a new way to save money(by picking guys,signing them,not liking them,and getting there cash back??)

Posted by TJ | October 29, 2009 at 2:20 pm | Shortcut

We’re still a bit in the dark, but Marlins correspondent Juan Rodriguez offers the following: “They voided the contract under article 17 of the minor league uniform player agreement, which states teams can terminate agreements because of the existence of a non-disclosed physical or mental defect.”

Posted by Matt Eddy | October 29, 2009 at 3:45 pm | Shortcut

The plot thickens regarding the Royals, Red Sox and Reynaldo Rodriguez. According to Boston correspondent Alex Speier, the commissioner’s office has deemed Rodriguez to be sole property of the Red Sox.

Posted by Matt Eddy | October 29, 2009 at 3:51 pm | Shortcut

Why is Jays prospect 1B David Cooper on a different AFL team then the rest of the Jays prospects.

Posted by Joseph B | October 30, 2009 at 11:00 am | Shortcut

Craig Hansen was recently diagnosed with Parsonage-Turner Syndrome, so his career is definitely at risk. Most people recover, but it can take years to get full use of the affected muscle.

Posted by Dan Szymborski | October 31, 2009 at 8:39 am | Shortcut

Is Sergio Santos the once Dbacks SS prospect assigned to the AFL by the White Sox as a RHP???

Posted by keith hess | November 4, 2009 at 11:58 am | Shortcut

What’s the story with the Cardinals signing Pedro Rodriguez? Was he with the team originally? Did he come from the indy leagues?

Posted by Eugene | November 4, 2009 at 10:44 pm | Shortcut

The last pro record I could find on Pedro Rodriguez was the Red Sox releasing him in August 2008. He signed out of Venezuela in 2004, pitched for the Red Sox in Latin America in ’05 and ’06, then spent all of ’07 on the DL. He didn’t pitch in ’08 either.

Posted by Matt Eddy | November 6, 2009 at 10:47 am | Shortcut

The one and only. As Sergio Santos grew bigger and stronger, his range at shortstop diminished, and he had trouble applying his raw power to game situations. But his arm remained as strong as ever. So after batting .226 with 22 homers in more than 1,500 Triple-A plate appearances, the White Sox signed Santos, a D’backs first-round pick in ’02, with the intention of making him a relief pitcher. The 26-year-old pitched at all four levels for Chicago this year, posting an ugly 8.16 ERA in 26 games but striking out a batter per inning.

Posted by Matt Eddy | November 6, 2009 at 10:53 am | Shortcut

Hey Matt, when will you be posting the list of 6-year minor league free agents?

Posted by Mike | November 8, 2009 at 6:41 am | Shortcut

Major League Baseball declared the minor leaguers free agents tonight, Monday, Nov. 9. Now we wait a few days for them to furnish us with a list.

Posted by Matt Eddy | November 9, 2009 at 5:48 pm | Shortcut