Daigle, Majewski out

With a big captip to Farmstros, we learn that Gary Majewski and Casey Daigle have filed for minor league free agency.

Astros claim Anderson Hernandez and Nelson Figueroa

The Astros have made a pair of waiver claims this afternoon - 27 year old switch-hitting infielder Anderson Hernandez from the Indians and 36-year old RHP Nelson Figueroa from the Phillies.

Hernandez had appeared in 22 games for the Indians this season, hitting .245/.300/.321 for the Big Club, and .234/.280/.275 for Triple-A Columbus.

Figueroa had posted a 3-0 record in 19IP with a 0.95 ERA/0.68 WHIP for Triple-A Lehigh Valley, and is 2-1 in 26IP with a 3.46 ERA/1.16 WHIP for the Phillies.

Not bad for minor-league depth, eh? Wait. What's this? The Astros have designated Gary Majewski and Polin Trinidad for assignment so that both Hernandez and Figueroa can join the team on Friday in Cincinnati.

Daigle designated for assignment

Casey Daigle has been designated for assignment following today's game (0.1IP, 4H/3ER, 1BB) against the Pirates (which may or may not get County Clerked. I'm too depressed to do it, and the County Clerk is at a rally.) Who replaces him? Why, Gary Majewski, of course!

The same Gary Majewski who hasn't been in the Majors since 2008, and who has a 4.04 ERA/1.29 WHIP in 35.2IP (35H/16ER, 21K:11BB) for Round Rock this season.

Just want to point out that Jonah Bayliss has thrown 41.1IP at Round Rock, has allowed 40H/15ER, 41K:12BB, and has a 3.27 ERA/1.26 WHIP. Both Majewski and Bayliss are 30, righties, and weren't on the 40-man roster. Bayliss also has a delivery slower than molasses, so maybe the Astros just wanted to get games over with.

More Tranzactionz

Captip to Farmstros for the further minor-league updates, because now we can see that, in addition to the earlier transactions...

Erick Abreu, Marcos Cabral, and Sergio Perez have been sent from Corpus to Round Rock, while Jonathan Fixler was sent to Corpus from Lexington.

This is also due to Gary Majewski, Drew Meyer and Sam Gervacio being placed on the DL at Round Rock.

The Screw-gee

So the dreaded cuts came today for nine, and I'll agree with The Crawfish Boxes, some of them don't make sense.

Here are your nine:
RHP Wilton Lopez
RHP Casey Daigle
RHP Gary Majewski
RHP Gustavo Chacin

IF Drew Meyer
1B Chris Shelton
IF/OF Edwin Maysonet

C Jason Castro
C Kevin Cash

McTaggart notes that Majewski, Chacin, Meyer, Shelton, and Cash were reassigned to minor-league camp, but will stay with the Big Club through the end of Spring Training.

Lopez, Maysonet, Castro, and Daigle are reassigned to Minor League camp immediately.

So this likely means the following:
Towles will be your Opening Day catcher (though Footer notes that the Astros are saying it's between Towles and Quintero.)
Gervacio has his spot in the bullpen.
Cory Sullivan is your OF5.

I'm most surprised by Lopez, Maysonet, and Daigle's reassignment. Lopez didn't allow an earned run all Spring. Maysonet got playing time in LF yesterday, and was given a nice review by Mills, so I'm not sure what that guy has to do to stick with the Big League team. Daigle has been lights out this Spring, while Moehler and Byrdak have taken their sweet time to get ready for the season to start (though I understand Byrdak's predisposition to throwing with his left arm is a reason why he's a roster lock). Hopefully with the performances shown this spring by these three, that means there's a short leash on the big league guys.

Astros invite eight to Spring Training

Brian McTaggart tells us the Astros have invited eight to Major League Spring Training:

Pitchers: Roy Corcoran, Ryan Sadowski, Casey Daigle, Gary Majewski

Infielders: Chris Shelton, Drew Meyer, Oswaldo Navarro

Outfielders: Alex Romero