9:24am: The Reds have announced that they’ve designated first baseman and outfielder Brandon Allen for assignment. The move clears roster space for Tim Melville, who will start this afternoon.

Allen never actually made a plate appearance for the Reds. They signed him to a minor-league deal in November and selected his contract on Friday, but he did not appear in a game. The 30-year-old played for the Mets’ Triple-A team in Las Vegas last season, batting .273/.350/.478. He last played in the big leagues in 2012, and he compiled a .203/.290/.375 line in parts of four seasons in the bigs.

• The Athletics have formally selected the contract of left-hander Eric Surkamp, who will take the hill tonight against the Mariners in Seattle tonight. In corresponding moves, the team announced that first baseman/outfielder Andrew Lambo has been optioned to Triple-A, and right-hander R.J. Alvarez has been transferred to the 60-day disabled list (thus creating a 40-man roster spot). It was reported earlier this week that Surkamp, who enjoyed a strong Spring Training, would get the nod over Jesse Hahn today, but the corresponding 40-man move was not yet known.The 28-year-old Surkamp logged a 3.60 ERA with a 19-to-7 K/BB ratio in 20 spring innings and has a similarly solid track record at Triple-A, where he’s compiled a 3.61 ERA with 8.2 K/9 against 2.5 BB/9 across 264 innings. However, Surkamp hasn’t carried that success with him to the Majors, as evidenced by a lifetime 6.47 ERA in 57 innings between the Giants, White Sox and Dodgers.
• The Reds announced today that they have selected the contract of first baseman Brandon Allen, who will join the big league club and replace right-hander Robert Stephenson, who was optioned to Triple-A following his MLB debut. (Stephenson was reportedly likely to make just one start in his brief callup.) Allen is a well-traveled minor league veteran and formerly well-regarded prospect that last appeared in the Majors with the 2012 Rays. The 30-year-old has excelled at the Triple-A level throughout his career, batting .276/.371/.502 in 624 games. However, he’s never experienced much success in the Majors, where his batting line is a substantially inferior .203/.290/.375 in 389 plate appearances. Allen has walked at nearly an 11 percent clip in the Majors, but he’s also punched out in more than a third of his plate appearances as well. Cincinnati does not need to make a corresponding move, as the club had an open spot on its 40-man roster.

• Infielder Grant Green has signed a minor league deal with the Giants, reports Baseball America’s Matt Eddy (on Twitter). Green, 28, is a former first-round pick of the Athletics that hasn’t panned out as hoped. Traded to the Angels back in 2013, Green has amassed a .249/.283/.335 batting line in 300 Major League plate appearances, spending most of his time at second base. He’ll give the Giants some depth at second and in left field.
• Eddy also tweets that the Reds have signed former big leaguer Brandon Allen to a minor league deal. The powerful first baseman hasn’t seen the Majors since 2012 and is a career .203/.290/.375 hitters in 389 PAs in the Majors. He’s crushed Triple-A pitching to the tune of a .276/.372/.502 batting line, however, making him a useful bat to stash at the team’s top minor league level.
• The Indians announced that outfielder Michael Choice has cleared outright waivers and been assigned to Triple-A Columbus. The former top 100 prospect will be in Major League camp as a non-roster invitee come Spring Training. Choice, 26, was designated for assignment when the Indians claimed Kirby Yates off waivers from the Rays. He’s a career .188/.253/.320 hitter in 300 big league plate appearances but has a more palatable line of .271/.356/.426 in Triple-A.
• The Red Sox have outrighted infielder Josh Rutledge to Triple-A Pawtucket, the team announced today. Rutledge, 26, was acquired from the Angels in exchange for Shane Victorino this past summer. He batted .284/.333/.338 in 85 PAs for the BoSox and is a career .261/.310/.398 hitter in the Majors, though some of that success is attributable to spending the early portion of his career playing his home games at Coors Field.

More minor moves from around the league…

• First baseman Brandon Allen has re-signed with the Mets, Adam Rubin of ESPN New York tweeted yesterday. The 28-year-old Allen, once considered a Top 100 prospect, hit .266/.368/.434 with the Mets at the Triple-A level last season.
• The Brewers announced today that they’ve acquired outfielder Kyle Wren — the son of former Braves GM Frank Wren — from Atlanta in exchange for righty Zach Quintana. (W.G. Ramirez was the first to report Quintana’s trade earlier this week, on Twitter.) The 23-year-old Wren hit .290/.350/.360 between Class-A Advanced and Double-A last season, while Quintana struggled to a 5.70 ERA in 85 1/3 innings with Milwaukee’s Class-A affiliate. He was a third-round pick by the Brewers as recently as 2012, however.
• Baseball America’s Matt Eddy has several minor league deals to report (All Twitter links). The Athletics have inked catcher Carson Blair and lefty Rudy Owens; the Marlins have signed righty Ryan Reid, lefty Pat Urckfitz and center fielder Kenny Wilson; and the Braves have signed right-hander Victor Mateo and lefty Francisco Rondon.

• The Mets have signed first baseman Brandon Allen to a minor league contract with an invitation to Spring Training, the team announced on Twitter. Allen slashed .267/.347/.478 with 17 homers as a 27-year-old with the Padres' Triple-A affiliate in 2013. Once regarded as one of the best prospects in the White Sox organization, Allen has produced just a .203/.290/.375 slash line and 12 homers in 389 Major League plate appearances between the D-Backs, A's and Rays. He is represented by SFX.

• Infielder Sean Burroughs has signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers, according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America (on Twitter). Burroughs last appeared in the Majors with the Twins in 2012 but was designated for assignment after just 18 plate appearances. The former top prospect returned to baseball in 2011.
• Within that same tweet, Eddy notes that the Mets have signed left-hander Sean Henn to a minor league deal. The 31-year-old Henn's last big league action was split between the Twins and Orioles in 2009. He has a 7.56 ERA in 81 career innings with more walks (64) than strikeouts (62).
• Still from Eddy's jam-packed tweet, the Padres have inked first baseman Brandon Allen to a minor league contract. The 27-year-old has a career .203/.290/.375 Major League batting line in 389 plate appearances.
• The Blue Jays announced that right-hander Edgar Gonzalez has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Buffalo in order to make room for Casper Wells on the 40-man roster. Toronto claimed the 30-year-old Gonzalez off waivers just five days ago.
• Suspended right-hander Mark Hamburger has signed with the independent league St. Paul Saints, writes Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN (at the bottom of the article). The 26-year-old tested positive for an undisclosed drug last season. He has appeared in eight Major League innings for the Rangers with a 4.50 ERA and was once traded for Eddie Guardado.

Allen, 26, appeared in seven games for the Rays last season before being sold to Japan's Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.  In parts of four seasons at the Triple-A level, Allen owns a .283/.390/.543 batting line.

Meek, 29, made the All-Star team during a 2.14 ERA campaign for the Pirates in 2010.  Since then, he's been limited by a shoulder injury.

Wells, 30, made 82 starts for the Cubs from 2009-11, even placing sixth in the NL Rookie of the Year vote in '09.  He spent much of this year struggling at Triple-A Iowa.

Allen, 26, never caught on in the Majors and spent the second half of this season in Japan.

Allen, 26, appeared in seven games for the Rays after Tampa Bay claimed him off of waivers from the Athletics. The Rays removed Allen from their roster in June and assigned him to Triple-A, a level at which he has a .283/.390/.543 batting line in parts of four seasons.

• The Rays outrighted Brandon Allen to Triple-A after he cleared waivers, Roy Commings of the Tampa Tribune tweets. The Rays designated Allen for assignment earlier in the week.
• Josh Satin has cleared waivers and will return to Triple-A Buffalo, Adam Rubin of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter). The Mets designated the 27-year-old infielder for assignment two days ago. He had posted a .274/.359/.380 line in 206 plate appearances at Buffalo before getting called up to the Major Leagues.

Allen appeared in seven games for the Rays, who claimed him off of waivers from the Athletics in April. His brief tenure in Tampa Bay included a walk-off home run on April 26th but was otherwise unremarkable. Allen has a .203/.290/.375 line in 389 MLB plate appearances and experience at first base and left field.

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Allen, 26, has a .205/.291/.375 line in 274 career plate appearances with the Diamondbacks and Athletics. The left-handed hitting 2004 draft pick posted a .200/.277/.377 line in 195 MLB plate appearances last year, but has a .268/.355/.489 line in eight minor league seasons.

3:58pm: The Athletics designated first baseman Brandon Allen for assignment, according to a team press release.  The move allows Oakland to reinstate first baseman Daric Barton from the disabled list.

Allen, 26, was acquired from the Diamondbacks at last year's trade deadline along with reliever Jordan Norberto for right-hander Brad Ziegler.  With a glut at first base, the A's were said to be shopping Allen over the winter.

The first baseman/leftfielder has a .286/.401/.555 slash line across parts of three Triple-A seasons but yet to put it all together in the majors.  In 109 big league games for the D'Backs and A's, Allen has hit .205/.291/.375 with eleven homers.

Allen posted a .200/.277/.377 line with six home runs in 195 MLB plate appearances last year to go along with a .991 OPS in 419 minor league plate appearances. The A's, who obtained Allen for Brad Ziegler last summer, also have Daric Barton, Chris Carter and Kila Ka'aihue in the mix at first base.

If the A's haven't already called the Rays, Indians, Pirates and Brewers about Allen, I doubt they're too far down the list of clubs that GM Billy Beane and assistant GM David Forst will get in touch with. The White Sox selected the left-handed hitter in the fifth round of the 2004 draft and traded him to Arizona for Tony Pena in 2009.

Ziegler, 31, is under team control through 2014 and is owed only $405K for the balance of the season.  He has a 2.39 ERA, 6.9 K/9, 3.1 BB/9, and 71.6% groundball rate with no home runs allowed in 37 2/3 innings this year.  As you might expect, he's a lot tougher on right-handed hitters.

Allen, 25, hasn't done much in 209 scattered big league plate appearances since coming to Arizona two years ago in a trade with the White Sox.  He's logged a lot of time in Triple-A, and the Pacific Coast League is hitter-friendly, but he is hitting .306/.427/.579 there this year.

Norberto, 24, tossed 20 ugly big league innings last year and has been in Triple-A this year.  The lefty has a 4.25 ERA, 10.0 K/9, 4.8 BB/9, and 0.2 HR/9 in 48 2/3 innings.  He has good velocity for a southpaw and ranked 29th among D'Backs prospects before the 2010 season, according to Baseball America.

Buster Olney, Jon Heyman, Tim Brown, and Steve Gilbert reported various aspects of the story as it developed.