The Rays have designated 27-year old righty swinging catcher Nevin Ashley for assignment. He was let go because the Rays needed his roster spot for newly signed DH Luke Scott. Ashley played in 112 games in AA+AAA-ball last year and he was 100 of 380 (.263 avg, .742 OPS) with 44 runs scored, 8 homers, 48 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. He has now played in 576 games in his first six years in the minors and he is 512 of 1,972 (.260 avg, .731 OPS) with 265 runs scored, 39 homers, 245 RBIs and 46 stolen bases. The Rays probably won’t miss Ashley because they have Jose Molina, Robinson Chirinos and Jose Lobaton ahead of him on the depth chart.

UPDATE: (1/24/2012) - Nevin Ashley has cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to AAA.

The Tampa Bay Rays have signed 33-year old lefty swinging DH/OF Luke Scott to a 1-year deal with a club option for the 2013 season. Scott played in 64 games for the Baltimore Orioles last year and he was 46 of 209 (.220 avg, .703 OPS) with 24 runs scored, 9 homers, 22 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He has now played in 702 games in his first 7 years in the majors and he is 592 of 2,243 (.264 avg, .843 OPS) with 308 runs scored, 112 homers, 341 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. This was a good signing for the Rays as Luke Scott has the power to hit around 30 homers in 2012 for the Rays if he can stay healthy enough to play every day.

The Rays have signed 34-year old righty reliever Fernando Rodney to a 1-year deal with a club option for the 2013 season. Rodney pitched in 39 games (0 starts) for the Angels last year and he was 3-5 with 3 saves, a 4.50 ERA and a 1.69 WHIP. He has now pitched in 419 games (0 starts) in his first 9 years in the majors and he is 22-38 with 87 saves, a 4.29 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP. The Rays are going to open up the competition at closer between Kyle Farnsworth and Rodney. I don’t know why the Rays would want to replace Kyle Farnsworth as I thought he was a pretty solid closer last year.