MLB Player News

The Yankees designated Alexander for assignment Monday.

The transaction frees up a spot on the 40-man roster for right-hander Geoff Hartlieb, who was called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Alexander was a waiver pickup of the Yankees earlier this month and will now go through the waivers process again.

The Yankees selected Hartlieb's contract from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Monday.

Hartlieb earned the promotion after collecting a 3.34 ERA and 38:10 K:BB over 35 innings with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The veteran reliever is likely to work in low-leverage spots.

The Yankees placed Cruz on the 15-day injured list Monday with a left oblique strain.

Cruz injured his oblique while warming up with a medicine ball in the weight room Sunday, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports. He'll undergo an MRI on Monday to determine the severity of the strain. Geoff Hartlieb was called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to take Cruz's spot in the bullpen.

Lowe is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Athletics, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Unless he's called upon off the bench to pitch hit, the left-handed-hitting Lowe will put his five-game hitting streak on hold Monday while the Athletics send southpaw Jacob Lopez to the hill. Jose Caballero will start in right field in place of Lowe.

Simpson is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Athletics, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

The left-handed-hitting Simpson was included in the lineup in the Rays' most recent matchup with a southpaw starter (the Royals' Kris Bubic) last Tuesday, but the rookie outfielder will hit the bench for Monday's seres opener while the Athletics send lefty Jacob Lopez to the hill. Christopher Morel, Jake Mangum and Jose Caballero will serve as the Rays' starters in the outfield from left to right.

Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said Monday that Santander (shoulder) is "nearing" the start of a hitting progression, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reports.

Atkins also revealed that Santander suffered a subluxation -- which is a partial dislocation -- when he initially injured his left shoulder back in early May. Previously, the injury was identified merely as inflammation. The Blue Jays have been waiting until Santander is symptom-free before clearing him to ramp up his hitting, and that time could be coming soon. According to Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca, the Blue Jays aren't yet ruling Santander out from being activated from the injured list before the All-Star break, though a second-half return is probably more realistic at this time.

Wynns is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Rays.

Wynns had been splitting playing time at catcher with Willie MacIver for the past three weeks while Shea Langeliers (oblique) was on the injured list, but Wynns' modest role is likely to become even smaller after the Athletics activated Langeliers on Monday. Though he ended up sticking on the 26-man active roster over MacIver -- who was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas -- Wynns is likely to make just one or two starts per week now that Langeliers is back with the big club.

Clase is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Yankees.

The switch-hitting Clase had started in three of the past four games, but he'll hit the bench Monday while Davis Schneider replaces him in left field as the Yankees send southpaw Carlos Rodon to the bump. Though injuries to Daulton Varsho (hamstring) and Anthony Santander (shoulder) have cleared the way for Clase to earn more playing time in the outfield, the 23-year-old hasn't been able to capitalize on the opportunities. He's hitting just .155/.234/.259 over 21 games in June.

Thomas is not in the lineup for Monday's game against the Rays.

The Athletics called up Thomas from Triple-A Las Vegas prior to their series opener versus the Rays, but the right-handed hitter is not in the lineup as Tampa sends righty Drew Rasmussen to the bump. Thomas doesn't have a path to obvious playing time at the moment, and most of the starts that he receives are likely to come against left-handed pitching.

Gonzalez is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Reds.

Gonzalez had been included in the lineup in the four of the Red Sox's last five games, but three of those starts came against left-handed pitching. The 28-year-old looks to be stuck in the short side of a platoon at first base with Abraham Toro for the time being, though Gonzalez could get more looks at second base versus right-handed pitching if David Hamilton (.506 OPS in 116 plate appearances) continues to languish.