All Things Bubba

Today was the roster deadline for the Rule 5 draft. Any player a team wants to protect from the Rule 5 draft has to be on their roster today, so a lot of moves were made.

The Pirates DFA'd Jeff Karstens. They claimed Chris Jakubauskas off waivers from the Seattle Mariners, and needed the roster spot.

Catcher Paul Phillips signed a minor league contract with the Rockies. He got a spring training invite and has a chance to win the backup catcher job. (Paul is Andy Phillips' cousin.)

The Yankees were pretty active. Hector Noesi, Ivan Nova, Romulo Sanchez, Reegie Corona, Eduardo Nunez, Kevin Russo, and Austin Jackson were added to the roster. To make room, Shelley Duncan was outrighted to the minors. This probably means he's moving on.

A player can only be outrighted to the minors once in his career without his consent. Duncan has already been outrighted once before, so this time he has the right to refuse the assignment. He's said that if he clears waivers, he'll choose free agency. If another team claims him off waivers, he can't be a free agent, but he won't be a Yankee, either.

Adios, Shelley. Best of luck to you.