Baseball Notes

Notes from this Wednesday afternoon in the life of baseball:

• Padres payroll will increase in coming years, now that Peavy is gone. The Padres expect to gradually raise their payroll to the $70-80MM range (opening day 43 million).
• The Royals designated Ryan Freel for assignment to clear roster space for Kyle Davies; according to Bob Dutton.
• Tyler Kepner reports that the Yankees designated Cody Ransom for assignment to make room for Anthony Claggett.
• The Chicago Cubs gave B.J. Ryan his wish and release him after he fails to restore his velocity and sharpness.
• The Red Sox designated infielder Gil Velazquez for assignment.
• Yankees signed Russ Ortiz, as minor league depth.
• Red Sox signed veteran Paul Byrd to a minor league deal.
• The A's have signed righty Brett Tomko to a minor-league deal. He'll be assigned to AAA Sacramento.
• The Jays signed lefty Wilfredo Ledezma to a minor-league deal yesterday
• The Rox signed outfielder Paul McAnulty to a minor-league deal.

Stay tuned.....