According to Marc Topkin of The St. Petersburg Times, the Rays have designated reliever Joe Nelson for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for the recently acquired Sean Rodriguez. GM Andrew Friedman said the move was made out of "respect" for Nelson after the team decided not to call him up this month, giving him a chance to catch on in another team.
Nelson, 34, had a 4.02 ERA in 40.1 IP for the Rays, but he put nearly three men on base every two innings. His performance in Triple-A was no better: 5.87 ERA, 1.89 WHIP in 15.1 IP.
