Time to catch up on the transactions made by NL Central teams during the past week. Aside from moves made by the Astros and the Cubs that were previously reported here on RHM, here are the personnel machinations that went down this week:
On Monday 11/12, the Cardinals outrighted RHP Dennis Dove to Class-AAA Memphis.
On Tuesday 11/13:
- Â The Cubs activated RHP Angel Guzman and RHP Mark Prior from the 60-day DL and traded OF Craig Monroe to the Twins for a PTBNL.
- The Pirates activated C Ryan Doumit and OF Chris Duffy from the 60-day DL.
On Wednesday 11/14, the Brewers signed LHP Randy Choate to a one-year contract. According to ESPN, it’s a split contract that would pay him $500,000 in the majors and $75,000 in the minors.
On Friday 11/16, the Pirates, as expected, declined their $5.45 million 2008 option on SS Cesar Izturis, officially making him the third member of the 2007 club to file for free agency, though GM Neal Huntington expressed interest in bringing Izturis back next season at a lower cost.
And today, Sunday 11/18, the Cardinals lost a top prospect, OF Cody Haerther, who was claimed off waivers by the Toronto Blue Jays. He hit .292 with a .494 slugging percentage in 2007, mostly with the Class-AA Springfield farm team. The loss leaves the Cardinals with 35 players on their 40-man roster.
The Reds apparently slept through the week. In fact, they’ve slept though most of the month so far, having announced no transactions since activating Castro, Freel, and Livingston from the 60-day DL on Nov. 2.