• Angels lefty Rob Rasmussen has elected to retire, per a club announcement (via J.P. Hoornstra of the Los Angeles News Group, on Twitter, who also had an interesting recent profile on the southpaw). According to MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez, via Twitter, the UCLA grad is off to pursue a business degree. The 26-year-old Rasmussen logged 26 2/3 innings with the Blue Jays and Mariners over the past two seasons, though he struggled in 2015 after a nice 2014 debut. Originally a second-round pick of the Marlins, Rasmussen’s career will come to a close with a 3.71 ERA in the minors to complement his small sample of big league work.
• Former big leaguer Jeff Kobernus has joined the indy league Lancaster Barnstormers, Jason Bristol of Pennsylvania’s CBS 21 reports (Twitter link). The club confirmed the move on Twitter and also announced that it will bring back righty Mark Lamm, who has also pitched recently in the upper minors in the Braves system. The 27-year-old Kobernus tallied 44 plate appearances with the 2013-14 Nationals and spent an injury-shortened season in the Giants system last year. He’s a lifetime .295/.354/.375 hitter at the Triple-A level and will hope to jump back into affiliated ball with a strong showing on the independent circuit.

The 29-year-old LaFromboise threw the ball well last year in the Pirates organization, though he spent most of his time at Triple-A. At Indianapolis, he worked to a 2.98 ERA with 8.6 K/9 versus 3.5 BB/9 in 54 1/3 innings. Though LaFromboise has only received 11 2/3 MLB innings in the past two years, he’s struck out 12 opposing batters and permitted only nine baserunners and two earned runs in that time.

Rasmussen, 26, comes from the Mariners, who acquired him at the trade deadline as part of the swap that sent Mark Lowe to Toronto. He tossed 15 1/3 MLB innings last year, striking out 17 but walking eight batter and permitting 17 earned runs. Rasmussen has shown some promise in the upper minors, though; last year, he put up a 2.30 ERA with 8.4 K/9 against 4.2 BB/9 in 42 Triple-A frames.

Achter, meanwhile, has already pinballed around the league this winter. The 27-year-old has shown some promise at Triple-A, including 48 frames of 2.63 ERA ball (with 8.8 K/9 vs. 2.4 BB/9) last year.

The 28-year-old Lopez put up a .266/.339/.335 slash in 246 plate appearances at the Triple-A level last year. He split his time between the Cubs and Halos organizations.

The 26-year-old Rasmussen logged 15 1/3 innings in the Majors this season, and while he struck out an impressive 17 hitters in that time, he also walked eight men and yielded an alarming 17 earned runs as well. That marked his second stint in the Majors, although the first — four runs in 11 1/3 innings with the 2014 Blue Jays — was considerably more palatable.

Rasmussen was one of three pitchers that the Mariners acquired from the Blue Jays in exchange for Mark Lowe prior to the 2015 trade deadline. If his name sounds familiar, it’s due to the fact that Rasmussen, despite being just 26 years old and having 26 2/3 innings of Major League experience, has been traded an incredible five times. Originally a second-round pick by the Marlins in 2010, he’s been part of the return in trades for Carlos Lee and Michael Young (in addition to John Ely and Brad Lincoln).

In addition to his Major League work, Rasmussen has totaled 140 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level, where he has pitched to a collective 4.04 ERA with a 121-to-69 K/BB ratio. It should be noted that Ramussen’s work as a reliever at the Triple-A level has been wildly superior to his work as a starter. He posted a 6.46 ERA working primarily out of the rotation in 2013 (12 games, 10 starts) but has turned in ERA marks below 2.75 while working as a reliever in his past two stops at Triple-A.

Lincoln, 28, appeared in 22 games for Toronto in 2013 and posted a 3.98 ERA with 7.1 K/9 and 6.3 BB/9.  Over parts of four big league seasons, Lincoln owns a 4.66 ERA with 6.8 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 for the Pirates and Blue Jays.

Rasmussen combined to post a 4.11 ERA with 7.5 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9 in 28 games (24 starts) for the Dodgers Triple-A and Double-A affiliates.  The 5-9, 160-pound left-handed pitcher was traded from Los Angeles to the Phillies in exchange for Michael Young on August 31st.  The 24-year-old is no stranger to being moved around, as he has now been involved in four career trades, including the aforementioned Young deal.

Kratz, 33, hit just .213/.280/.386 in 218 major league plate appearances last season.  For his career, the backstop owns a slash line of .220/.281/.407 across four seasons with the Pirates and Phillies.  Kratz is expected to compete with Josh Thole for the backup job behind Dioner Navarro.

• The Brewers announced that they've added first baseman Hunter Morris, first baseman/outfielder Jason Rogers and right-handers Brooks Hall and Kevin Shackelford to their 40-man roster.
• The Braves announced that they've added left-hander Carlos Perez, right-hander Luis Vasquez and infielder Elmer Reyes to their 40-man roster. MLB.com's Mark Bowman tweets that the Braves had only recently signed Vasquez, 27, to a minor league deal. His entire career to this point has come in the Dodgers' minor league system.
• The Reds have added catcher Tucker Barnhart, right-hander Chad Rogers and outfielders Juan Duran and Ryan LaMarre to their 40-man roster, tweets John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer.
• In addition to McGuire, the Blue Jays announced that outfielder Kenny Wilson has been added to the 40-man roster as well (Twitter link).
• Catcher Tommy Joseph, left-hander Rob Rasmussen and outfielders Aaron Altherr and Kelly Dugan have been added to the Phillies' 40-man roster, the team announced.
• Right-hander Kirby Yates and southpaw C.J. Riefenhauser have been added to the Rays' 40-man roster, according to their agency, the Beverly Hills Sports Council (Twitter link). The Tampa Tribune's Roger Mooney reports that infielder Vince Belnome and righty Jesse Hahn have been added as well (also on Twitter).

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• The loss of Black and, potentially, Duke Welker (who may or may not be headed to the Twins as the PTBNL in the Justin Morneau trade) will add more uncertainty to a Pirates' Triple-A Indianapolis roster that has already had more than its share of flux. Brian Peloza of the Pittsburgh Tribune Review writes that the Pirates have promoted 18 different players from Indianapolis this season, more than other NL playoff contenders. Those players include Black, Welker, Alex Presley (the other player included in the Morneau deal), and top prospect Gerrit Cole.
• The Phillies believe that Rob Rasmussen, the pitcher they received when they traded Michael Young to the Dodgers, could end up as a reliever, Bob Brookover of the Inquirer reports. "He's starting now, but he could be a guy later on who could pitch in the bullpen," GM Ruben Amaro Jr. says. "Lefthanders are always valuable. He's viewed as a really strong makeup kid with a big arm." Rasmussen, 24, had a 2.55 ERA with 8.4 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 for Double-A Chattanooga in 2013, although he struggled in 54 1/3 innings for Triple-A Albuquerque.
• Connecticut native and Massachusetts resident John McDonald is happy that a trade to the Red Sox brought him home, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe writes. "[G]rowing up in New England, and getting to play in Fenway, and to put this uniform on today, it’s pretty awesome," McDonald says. The Red Sox will be the fourth team the infielder has played for this season, having also suited up for the Pirates, Indians and Phillies.
• Angels owner Arte Moreno needs to share his plan to rebuild the team with superstar outfielder Mike Trout, argues the Los Angeles Times' Bill Shaikin. Trout will be close to free agency by the time it will become possible for the Angels to return to contention, at least on a regular basis, Shaikin says.
• The Rockies need to acquire a veteran starter in the offseason, and they also need bullpen help and a right-handed power bat, Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post writes. Nonetheless, Renck suggests that the improvements in the Rockies' rotation this year (their 2013 starters have a 4.37 ERA, compared to a 5.81 ERA in 2012) suggest that the team is heading in the right direction.