• Julio Franco, who played professionally in parts of four decades, is not quite done yet. The independent league Fort Worth Cats announced today that the 53-year-old will serve as a player/coach for the team’s first homestand. Among his other stops, Franco saw time in 23 MLB campaigns, putting up a strong .298/.365/.417 triple-slash with 173 home runs and 281 stolen bases. While he spent time with eight MLB clubs, Franco did most of his damage with the Indians and Rangers in the late-eighties and early nineties. He then returned for a solid five-year run with the Braves (every season of which came in Franco’s forties). While it would be unwise to count out the ageless wonder, it seems rather unlikely that Franco has in mind another run at the bigs at this point.
• ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick reports that Matt LaPorta has asked for and been granted his release from the Mexican League’s Campeche Pirates (Twitter link). The former No. 7 overall draft pick and top prospect batted .286/.366/.555 with seven homers in 32 games for Campeche.
• The Atlantic League’s Bridgeport Bluefish announced today that outfielder Brandon Boggs has signed a minor league deal with the Braves. Boggs hit .324/.390/.426 in 78 PA with Bridgeport. This will be his second stint with the Braves, as he spent the bulk of last season playing with their Triple-A affiliate in Gwinnett. The 31-year-old Boggs has a nice track record at Triple-A and has seen action in parts of four seasons with the Brewers and Rangers.
• Former big league right-hander Jeff Bennett, who had also been playing in the Mexican League, has inked a minor league deal with the Dodgers, reports MLB Daily Dish’s Chris Cotillo (Twitter link). The 33-year-old Bennett has a 4.30 ERA in 228 1/3 big league innings with the Braves, Rays and Brewers, but he hasn’t pitched in the Majors since 2009. He turned in a strong 2.44 ERA with 6.7 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 in 44 1/3 innings for los Broncos de Reynosa in 2014.

• The Yankees have signed right-hander Cory Wade to a Major League contract and called him up to the Major League roster, reports MLB.com's Bryan Hoch.  Wade signed a minor league deal with New York on Monday.  To make room, Hoch reports that Rafael Soriano was moved to the 60-day DL and Kevin Whelan was optioned to Triple-A.
• The Rangers have released catcher Michael Thomas, tweets Matt Eddy of Baseball America.  Thomas was the player to be named later in the Jarrod Saltalamacchia trade last July.  Eddy notes the Rangers considered converting Thomas to pitching.
• The Cubs released righty Thomas Diamond from their Triple-A club, tweets Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald.  He'd been outrighted in May to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Doug Davis.
• The Diamondbacks purchased the contract of righty reliever Jeff Bennett from the Lancaster Barnstormers.  It appears that Bennett will join Arizona's Triple-A club.  The 31-year-old last pitched in the Majors with the Rays in '09.

• Rival executives don’t expect Mariners ace Felix Hernandez to be available this summer, but they’re eyeing Wandy Rodriguez and Mike Pelfrey as potential trade targets, according to ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark.
• If you want to look a little further ahead, check out Tim Dierkes' preview of which starters will be available next offseason.
• ESPN.com's Keith Law suggests the Orioles will regret leaving Pedro Beato off of their 40-man roster last fall. The Mets nabbed the reliever in the Rule 5 draft and he's now on the team's active roster.
• Former Braves reliever Jeff Bennett is trying to revive his career after seeing it hit rock-bottom, as Greg Sullivan of the Tennessean writes.

The Rays released Bennett, who had been pitching at Triple A, earlier in the month. He was struggling in Triple A, but the Brewers need arms. Their 6.03 bullpen ERA is part of the reason they're 14th in the National League in runs allowed.

• Matt Bush, the player the Padres selected first overall in the 2004 draft, may make it to the majors with the Rays, according to Tom Krasovic of Fanhouse. Bush has only pitched three innings at A ball this year, but the Rays people Krasovic spoke to wouldn't be surprised to see Bush in the majors this year.
• The Rays released Jeff Bennett, according to Cork Gaines of RaysIndex. The team's media relations department confirmed the release to MLBTR. Bennett, now 29, made 11 appearances for the Rays last year. In 10.2 innings at Triple A Durham, Bennet posted 8.4 BB/9 and 5.9 K/9 this year.

1:42pm: Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times tweets that the Rays have acquired Shoppach for a player to be named later. The deal has been confirmed by an Indians press release, which notes that the PTBNL must be named by December 20th.

1:33pm: The Rays are closing in on a deal with the Indians for catcher Kelly Shoppach, according to ESPN's Buster Olney.  Shoppach was a non-tender candidate for the Tribe after earning $1.95MM and slipping to .214/.335/.399 offensively.  If the Rays do acquire Shoppach, you have to wonder if they'll non-tender Dioner Navarro.

Shoppach, 30 in April, would make for an interesting pickup for the Rays given his .261/.348/.517 line from '08.

"The Braves didn’t announce it at the time, but they suspended his pay beginning June 25.  He filed a grievance with the players association and continued his rehab, including two recent minor-league appearances," O'Brien writes.

"When the grievance was heard, the Braves were directed to either “cure the default” by giving him his back pay for the period he was suspended, or allow him to become a free agent. Braves media-relations director Brad Hainje said Bennett requested the team release him from his contract, which they did."

1:04pm: Marc Lancaster of the Tampa Tribune reports minor league left-hander James Houser was released to make room for Bennett on the 40-man roster.  Houser, 24, was 4-5 this season with a 5.16 ERA and a 44/50 K/BB ratio in 18 appearances (15 starts) for Triple-A Durham.

12:31pm: According to Ed Price at AOL Fanhouse, the Rays have inked righty Jeff Bennett to a deal. Bennett, 29, had recently asked for his release from the Braves, though it was unclear why. He put up a 3.18 ERA and 23/21 K/BB ratio for Atlanta this season.