David Cooper has opted out of his Triple-A contract with the Cleveland Indians.
The first baseman is now a free agent.
Cooper, 26, was the 17th pick in the 2008 draft out of the University of California-Berkeley.
David Cooper has opted out of his Triple-A contract with the Cleveland Indians.
The first baseman is now a free agent.
Cooper, 26, was the 17th pick in the 2008 draft out of the University of California-Berkeley.
The Anaheim City Council is expected to vote next week to enter lease negotiations with the Los Angeles Angels that could keep the team in the city through 2057.
The deal would also enable the team to drop the "of Anaheim" suffix from its name.
Under the proposed deal, the Angels would pay for a major renovation of Angel Stadium. In return, owner Arte Moreno would rent land surrounding the stadium for $1 per year and secure development rights to that land for at least 66 years.
The Angels can opt out of their stadium lease in 2016.
Alex Rodriguez was not in the lineup for the New York Yankees on Saturday afternoon because of flu-like symptoms.
Rodriguez was slated to bat fifth and play third against the Baltimore Orioles.
He is hitting .280/.359/.451 with four home runs and 10 RBI in 23 games this season.
The Pittsburgh Pirates have acquired Justin Morneau from the Minnesota Twins in exchange for outfielder Alex Presley and a player to be named later.
Pittsburgh entered Saturday tied with the St. Louis Cardinals for first place in the National League Central.
Morneau, who is in the final year of his contract and has spent his entire 11-year career with the Twins, is hitting .259/.315/.426 with 17 home runs and 74 RBI.
Baseball has enjoyed nearly two decades of labor peace, but a battle may be on the horizon as Major League teams have thought about pushing for non-guaranteed contracts.
Contracts in Major League Baseball heavily favor the players, but the MLBPA has grown concerned over some guarantee language in recent deals that may be looking to steal some of the power.
Some teams have tried to implement a conversion clause that allows them to make a guaranteed contract non-guaranteed in certain situations.
Much of this relates to performance-enhancing drugs, but it also deals with legal woes.
Josh Willingham is glad the Minnesota Twins decided to pull him back off waivers without trading him.
The Twins were unable to work out a deal with the Baltimore Orioles before Friday's deadline.
Willingham will now remain with Minnesota through at least the end of this season. He is under contract for 2014 at $7 million.
"I'm just glad it's over," he said. "Now I know where I'm going to be."
Willingham said he knew a trade wasn't completed when he didn't hear anything from the Twins or his agent on Friday.
"I'm comfortable here so I'd like to stay here," Willingham said. " The bottom line is I didn't have any control so I didn't worry myself with it."
Clay Buchholz believes he's on track to return to the Boston Red Sox and start on Sept. 10.
Buchholz pitched 3 1/3 innings Friday night for Triple-A Pawtucket in his second of three scheduled minor league rehab starts.
"I felt really good," he said. "Tonight I was much more impressed with the velocity that I was able to sustain over the period I was out there, and getting over that hump of not really worrying about anything when I'm trying to get a fastball down and away to a righty and have something on it."
Buchholz is working his way back from a bursa-sac shoulder injury.
Nelson Cruz is headed to the Arizona instructional league in hopes of preparing himself to return to the Texas Rangers for the postseason.
His 50-game suspension in the wake of the Biogenesis scandal ends on the final day of the regular season.
"It's been a really rough few weeks," said Cruz, who hopes the Rangers will activate him for the playoffs. "But I have good friends and good family. They're behind me."
Talking to the media without taking questions, Cruz apologized to the organization and its fans "for the mistake that I make."
Buck Showalter reportedly spoke with Bud Selig earlier this month in the wake of his comments about Alex Rodriguez.
The New York Times described the talk as "productive."
Showalter had told USA Today Sports that if Selig suspended Rodriguez for the 2014 season, it would be unfair because the New York Yankees would benefit financially. They would not have to pay him his $25 million salary for 2014, saving significant money against the luxury tax and revenue sharing.
Rodriguez was eventually was suspended through the 2014 season. He is appealing the ban.
David Price took a lengthy and expensive cab ride to the Oakland Coliseum on Friday.
With the Bay Bridge closed all weekend, the alternate route ran him $202 and took an hour.
Price, who started on Friday night, joked that he planned to rent a helicopter for Saturday's game.
The left-hander allowed three runs over seven innings as the Tampa Bay Rays lost 4-3 to the Oakland Athletics. He struck out five and walked just one while surrendering five hits.