• The Blue Jays announced that they have released catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia. He had been designated for assignment recently. Saltalamacchia opened the year as the team’s reserve catcher, but never got it going offensively. The high-power, high-K switch-hitter did more of the latter, going down on strikeouts 16 times while recording only a single base hit over 26 trips to the plate. Saltalamacchia also struggled last year, though he did hit a dozen long balls in just 292 plate appearances.
• Angels lefty Greg Mahle was outrighted to Triple-A after clearing waivers, per a club announcement. The 24-year-old was working at Salt Lake already, but gave up his 40-man spot when the team had a need for more pitching at the MLB level. Mahle reached the bigs last year, but struggled to a 5.40 ERA with 6.9 K/9 against 4.9 BB/9 in his 18 1/3 innings.

The 24-year-old Mahle pitched 18 1/3 innings of relief as a rookie for the 2016 Angels, posting a 5.40 ERA, 6.9 K/9 and 4.9 BB/9 while throwing his fastball in the 89-MPH range. He’s pitched ten innings this season for Triple-A Salt Lake.

The Angels outrighted Jose Valdez in November after he pitched 23 1/3 innings of relief with a 4.24 ERA and 8.5 K/9 but a way-too-high 6 2/3 BB/9 in 2016. He has pitched just twice for Salt Lake since April 20, so he should provide the Angels’ bullpen with a fresh arm.