MLB Roundup: Royals acquire Jays' Bonifacio, Rays' Cobb to start Thursday
The Kansas City Royals acquired utility infielder-outfielder Emilio Bonifacio from the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday for a player to be named or cash considerations.
The move is the second this week for the Royals, who are making a push to contend for a playoff spot in the American League. On Sunday, Kansas City brought in veteran infielder Jamey Carroll from the Minnesota Twins.
The 28-year-old Bonifacio is a switch hitter with speed who could provide depth, but he has struggled this season after coming to the Blue Jays in the offseason trade with the Miami Marlins that involved Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle and Josh Johnson. In 94 games for the Blue Jays, Bonifacio was batting .218 with three home runs and 20 RBIs.
The Royals placed shortstop Miguel Tejada on the 60-day disabled list to make room on the 40-man roster for Bonifacio.
---Right-hander Alex Cobb will come off the disabled list and make his first start Thursday for the Tampa Bay Rays since he was hit on the head by a line drive.
Cobb, who was struck on June 15 during a game against the Kansas City Royals, will be limited to about 90 pitches in a game against the Seattle Mariners, Rays manager Joe Maddon told MLB.com. Cobb's return to the major leagues also was delayed by a blister on his pitching hand.
The 25-year-old made three rehab starts in the minor leagues, the last on Friday when he allowed three runs in 4 1/3 innings while pitching for high-Class A Charlotte.
---An unidentified man claiming to be former New York Yankees outfielder Shane Spencer was interviewed by an Albany, N.Y., sports-talk radio station this week and discussed steroid use and Yankees teammates.
But it was all a lie. The real Spencer, who coaches an independent league team in Somerset, Mass., heard the hoax interview and was incensed.
"I about threw up," Spencer told ESPNNewYork.com. "Someone called into the station claiming to be me and spoke on my behalf regarding some very sensitive topics surrounding baseball. This caller spoke as me about topics ranging from steroids, to my time with the New York Yankees, Roger Clemens, and my feelings about the great Mariano Rivera.
"I am outraged that someone would do this and at the same time disappointed that the station believed it to be me despite not coming from the contact information they had for me."
The prank caller posing as Spencer said in the interview, "I have used steroids in the past. ... Did I ever see anyone using them? Absolutely. ... Here's the one thing I would say, is that most people did not use steroids in a public forum. Most people didn't make it -- it wasn't like you would walk into the Yankees' locker room or any other team I played for and people were just using steroids or people would be openly talking about it."
The station removed the audio of the interview from its website.
