• The Orioles have released DH Jack Cust and 1B Matt LaPorta, MASNsports.com's Steve Melewski reports. Cust was out of baseball in 2013 but hit .243/.400/.442 in 493 plate appearances for two Triple-A teams in 2012. He has played in parts of two big-league seasons, collecting by far the most playing time as a DH/OF for the Athletics from 2007 through 2010. LaPorta, 29, hit .238/.310/.476 in 184 plate appearances for the Indians' Triple-A Columbus affiliate in 2013. He was the key piece in the 2008 trade that sent C.C. Sabathia from Cleveland to Milwaukee.
• The Padres have released pitcher Zach Braddock and infielder Brandon Wood, tweets MLB.com's Corey Brock. Braddock, 26, pitched 51 innings combined in 2010 and 2011 with the Brewers. Wood, of course, was once a top prospect with the Angels. He spent 2013 playing Triple-A ball with the Orioles and Royals, hitting .226/.262/.329 in 252 plate appearances. He last appeared in the big leagues in 2011 with the Pirates.
• The Brewers have released pitcher Eric Arnett, MLB.com's Adam McCalvy tweets. Arnett, a 2009 first-round pick, pitched sparingly in 2013, missing most of the season after having knee surgery.

• The Orioles have agreed to a minor league deal with outfielder/DH Jack Cust, tweets Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. Cust, 35, has not seen MLB action since 2011, when he hit .213/.344/.329 in 270 plate appearances at DH for the Mariners. He was out of baseball last year, but slashed an interesting .243/.400/.442 (with 20 home runs) in 493 Triple-A plate appearances in 2012.
• Baltimore has also inked righty Evan Meek, tweets Eduardo Encina of the Baltimore Sun. The 30-year-old has made 156 MLB appearances, all as a Pirates reliever, and logged 172 2/3 innings of 3.34 ERA ball over the span of 2008-12. But he struggled in limited action in 2012, and worked as a Triple-A swingman for the Rangers last year (posting a 4.50 ERA in 108 innings).
• With Chaz Roe electing free agency, only the Royals' Everett Teaford and Emilio Bonifacio remain in DFA limbo, as reflected in the MLBTR DFA Tracker.

In other news out of Camden Yards…

• With roughly $82-83MM already committed to the 2014 payroll, Orioles executive VP Dan Duquette says the club's payroll will be closer to $100MM, Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun reports.  "This year, if you said $100 [million], that would be reasonable.  I think over the course of four years, we have been expanding our payroll.  But we are going to stay within the resources of the market."  Pitching seems to be the Orioles' target, as Duquette said "things are starting to move again" now that Masahiro Tanaka has signed.
• The Orioles need to be willing to spend more to compete in the AL East, Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun opines, especially since the team enjoys extra revenue every year from its co-ownership of MASN.  
• It doesn't seem like the Orioles will sign Jack Cust to a minor league contract, MASNsports.com's Roch Kubatko hears from a few sources.  Cust was at Baltimore's minicamp last week in pursuit of a deal, and Kubatko says that Cust could possibly still be invited to the Orioles' minor league minicamp on February 22.

• The Phillies, Red Sox and Royals are among the teams in on Ryan Madson, FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal tweets. Rosenthal also tweets, however, that Madson is unlikely to sign until after teams watch him pitch off a mound in February. Madson, who has struggled to return from elbow troubles, has not pitched in the big leagues since 2011, when he was with the Phillies.
• DH Jack Cust worked out for the Orioles this week, but it's unclear whether the team wants to sign him, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports. "It's still under consideration," executive vice president Dan Duquette says. Cust did not play in 2013, but he posted a .243/.400/.442 line at the Triple-A level in 2012.
• Former Mariners and Padres reliever Jared Wells will work out for teams next week, MLB Daily Dish's Chris Cotillo tweets. Wells, 32, last pitched in the Majors in 2008. He played independent ball in 2013.

Young, 28, batted .260/.307/.407 with 11 homers in 361 plate appearances for the Phillies and Rays in 2013. He performed significantly better with the Rays overall, as he posted a .699 OPS (92 OPS+) with the Phillies and a .780 mark (117 OPS+) with the Rays. Young is regarded as a poor defensive player but has handled lefties well throughout his career and could fill a DH/part-time left field role for Baltimore.

Cust, who turns 35 on Thursday, hasn't appeared in the Majors since 2011 with the Mariners when he batted .213/.344/.329 in 270 plate appearances. After a solid year with the Triple-A affiliates for the Yankees and Blue Jays in 2012 (he batted .243/.400/.442 in 114 games), Cust sat out the 2013 season. Cust didn't have a long peak, but he was very good for the A's from 2007-10 when he batted .247/.381/.457 and averaged 24 homers per season. In 2008, he paced the American League with 111 walks and also belted 33 homers.

Reynolds spent two seasons with the O's, batting .221/.328/.458 with 60 homers from 2011-12. However, Baltimore elected to non-tender him rather than go through arbitration a final time heading into the 2013 campaign. Reynolds latched on with the Indians on a one-year deal. After a blistering April, he cooled off and was ultimately released before signing with the Yankees. He hit .220/.306/.393 with 21 homers overall last season.

• The Nationals have released 10 minor-leaguers, MLB.com's Bill Ladson reports, including Delwyn Young, a utilityman who played parts of five seasons for the Pirates and Dodgers. The Nats also released pitchers Ryan Demmin, Inocencio Heredia, Bobby Lucas, Blake Monar, Casey Upperman, and Andrew Wall; outfielders Wade Moore and J.P. Ramirez; and infielder Stephen King.
• The Royals have released 11 minor-leaguers, reports Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star (on Twitter): pitchers Rudy Brown, Allen Caldwell, Blaine Hardy, Joe Karlik, Patrick Keating, Jason Mitchell, Lincoln Rassi, and Jamie Richmond; outfielder Nick Van Stratten; and infielders Michael Liberto and Adrian Martinez.
• The Rays have released DH Jack Cust, Roger Mooney of the Tampa Tribune reports (on Twitter). Cust signed a minor-league deal with the Rays on February 17. He played for Triple-A Scranton (Yankees) and Las Vegas (Blue Jays) in 2012. He last appeared in the majors with the Mariners in 2011, hitting .214/.344/.329 in 225 at bats.
• The Padres have released six minor-leaguers, MLB.com's Corey Brock Reports (on Twitter): pitchers Mark Pope, Chris Haney, and Michael Broadway; outfielders Anthony Renteria and Kyung-Min Na; and first baseman Goose Kallunki.
• Infielder/outfielder Cody Puckett has been traded from the Reds, with whom he has spent his entire career, to the White Sox, Puckett himself tweeted. In return, the Reds will receive a player to be named later, tweets John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Splitting last season between Double-A and Triple-A, Puckett saw time in the infield (mostly at second) and corner outfield, and hit .233/.306/.390 with 16 home runs over 488 plate appearances. 
• The Marlins released left-handed pitcher Kevin Gelinas, tweets Matt Eddy of Baseball America. Gelinas, just 23, was Baseball America's Independent Leagues Player of the Year last season, Eddy notes.
• The Rangers released catcher Konrad Schmidt, a 28-year-old who has 17 total plate appearances in the big leagues, reports T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com. Texas claimed Schmidt off waivers from the Diamondbacks last fall and then outrighted him to Triple-A in December.

Charlie Wilmoth contributed to this post.

The 34-year-old last appeared in the majors with the Mariners in 2011 where he hit .213/.344/.329 with three homers in 67 games. Across parts of ten big league seasons, Cust owns a slash line of .242/.374/.439.

Cust, 33, was cut loose by the Yankees on Wednesday after signing a minor league deal with the club back in March.  The designated hitter/corner outfielder posted a .249/.400/.475 slash line with 20 homers, 81 walks, and 127 plate appearances for Scranton Wilkes-Barre this year.

• The Yankees have released Jack Cust, reports Donnie Collins of The Scranton Times-Tribune (on Twitter). The 33-year-old hit .249/.400/.475 with 20 homers, 81 walks, and 127 plate appearances for their Triple-A affiliate this season.
• The Yankees have also released outfielders Colin Curtis and Ray Kruml according to Collins. The 27-year-old Curtis hit .186/.250/.288 in 64 plate appearances with New York in 2010
• The Yankees released outfielder Dewayne Wise yesterday, according to the team’s website. The Yankees designated Wise for assignment and outrighted him to Triple-A in July, but the 34-year-old refused the team’s outright assignment. Wise, a left-handed hitter, posted a .262/.286/.492 batting line in 63 plate appearances with New York.

Cust, 33, was released by the Astros yesterday. He posted a .213/.344/.329 line with three home runs in 270 plate appearances for the Mariners in 2011, when he earned $2.5MM. However, the left-handed hitter averaged 28 homers and 103 walks with the A's from 2007-09. Cust gives the Yankees some left-handed hitting DH insurance in Triple-A in case Raul Ibanez doesn't work out.

Cust, 33, signed a non-guaranteed Major League deal worth $600K with Houston in January. The one-year contract had also included a club option for 2013. Cust posted a .213/.344/.329 line with three home runs in 270 plate appearances for the Mariners in 2011, when he earned $2.5MM. However, the TWC Sports client averaged 28 homers and 103 walks with the A's from 2007-09.

Cust, 33, signed a non-guaranteed Major League deal worth $600K in January. The one-year contract had also included a club option for 2013. Cust posted a .213/.344/.329 line with three home runs in 270 plate appearances for the Mariners in 2011, when he earned $2.5MM. However, the TWC Sports client averaged 28 homers and 103 walks with the A's from 2007-09.

Duke, 28, posted a 4.93 ERA with 3.8 K/9, 2.2 BB/9 and a 49.6% ground ball rate in 76 2/3 innings last year. The 2009 All-Star owns a 4.56 ERA with 4.6 K/9, 2.4 BB/9 and a 49.0% ground ball rate in seven seasons with Arizona and Pittsburgh. SFX represents the Clifton, Texas native.

• Brewers GM Doug Melvin told Tom Haudricourt of The Journal Sentinel that he has no plans to trade Logan Schafer despite the club's center field depth (Twitter link). The 25-year-old Schafer has had a strong spring but is stuck behind Nyjer Morgan and Carlos Gomez on the depth chart.
• The Astros and GM Jeff Luhnow intend to take a look at right-handed reliever Francisco Samuel, reports B.J. Rains of FOXSportsMidwest.com (on Twitter). The Cardinals – Luhnow's former team – released Samuel earlier today.
• Jack Cust has had a slow start to Spring Training, though Luhnow indicated to MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince that the slugger will continue to get chances with the Astros. They signed him to a one-year, non-guaranteed deal worth $500K with an option for 2013 this offseason.
• "We looked to see if we could acquire some of the game's most impactful young players," said White Sox GM Kenny Williams to Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com when asked about the team's rebuilding plan. "Our target list was our target list. We set the price high, and we stuck with it."

• The Reds and Bill Bray settled at $1,417,500 yesterday, MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes tweets. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz had projected a $1.4MM salary for the left-handed reliever.
• Right-hander Tyler Clippard and the Nationals agreed to terms yesterday on a $1.65MM deal for 2012, I tweeted earlier tonight. The 26-year-old reliever had been projected for $1.7MM
• Tom Gorzelanny obtained $3MM from the Nationals for 2012, I noted on Twitter earlier this evening. That's a little north of what had been reported Tuesday and it tops the left-hander’s projected $2.8MM salary.
• Agent Bobby Barad told Zachary Levine of the Houston Chronicle that the Astros’ 2013 option for the newly-signed Jack Cust is worth $1MM. Cust agreed to a non-guaranteed Major League deal worth $600K yesterday.

TUESDAY, 9:30pm: The Astros have agreed to sign Jack Cust, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets. It's a one-year deal with a club option for 2013, Zachary Levine of the Houston Chronicle tweets. TWC Sports represents the corner outfielder/DH.

Cust, 33, averaged 28 homers and 103 walks with the A's from 2007-09, but his power numbers have since fallen off. If he regains his form in Houston, he could DH for the Astros in 2013, when the team moves to the American League West. Cust, who has a career UZR/150 of -22.4 as an outfielder, figures to pinch hit and play left and right in 2012.

Cust posted a .213/.344/.329 line with three home runs in 270 plate appearances for the Mariners in 2011, when he earned $2.5MM. The Mariners released him in August and the Phillies signed him soon afterwards. There was no reported interest in Cust earlier in the offseason.