• The Giants signed shortstop Ronny Cedeno to a minor league contract, according to the Pacific Coast League’s transactions page.  Cedeno appeared in nine games with the Phillies in 2014, spending the large majority of his season at the Triple-A level for Philadelphia and Arizona.  Over his 10 years in the majors, Cedeno has a .245/.289/.353 career slash line over 2792 plate appearances, seeing a few seasons in a starting or platoon role for the Cubs and Pirates.
• The Athletics moved right-hander Taylor Thompson to the 60-day disabled list due to a strain in his throwing shoulder, the team announced.  In a corresponding move, Thompson’s 40-man roster spot will be filled by the newly-acquired Chad Smith.  Thompson, 27, made his Major League debut last season, throwing 5 1/3 innings out of the White Sox bullpen.  The A’s selected him off waivers from the White Sox in November.
• The Diamondbacks signed righty Jeremy Accardo to a minor league deal, as per the PCL’s transactions page.  Accardo, an eight-year Major League veteran, last appeared in the bigs in 2012 and has since pitched in Mexico, Venezuela, independent league ball and for the Nationals’ Triple-A affiliate.

• Diamondbacks outfielder Nolan Reimold has elected free agency, per the club’s transactions page. After spending the first half of 2014 on the disabled list, Reimold, who turns 31 today, was released by the Orioles in July and promptly claimed by the Blue Jays where he batted .212/.283/.404. in 60 plate appearances. Reimold was then designated for assignment by Toronto in August and claimed by the Diamondbacks. The former top-100 prospect, who has been injury-plagued undergoing a pair of neck surgeries and an ankle operation, fared much better in Arizona, albeit in a smaller sample size, slashing .294/.278/.529 in 17 plate appearances.
• Catcher Bobby Wilson and infielder Ronny Cedeno have opted for free agency rather accept their outright assignment by the Diamondbacks to Triple-A Reno, according to the Pacific Coast League’s transactions page.
• Infielder Jeff Bianchi and catcher Matt Pagnozzi have declared their free agency by refusing their outright assignment to Triple-A Colorado Springs by the Brewers, reports Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.  
• Other players declaring free agency who saw MLB action in 2014, per the PCL and International League transactions page, are: Ian Stewart (Angels), Justin Germano (Dodgers), Clint Robinson (Dodgers), Mark Lowe (Indians), Greg Dobbs (Nationals), Jason Pridie (Rockies), and Danny Worth (Tigers).

Cedeno saw limited action with the Phillies after being added to their roster in June. The 31-year-old appeared in seven games and was hitless in nine plate appearances. Cedeno has slashed .245/.289/.353 in parts of ten seasons with the Cubs, Mariners, Pirates, Mets, Astros, Padres and Phillies.

Gomez has spent the season at Double-A Mobile hitting .273/.355/.360 in 173 plate appearances and throwing out 28% of the runners attempting to steal. The 24-year-old has spent his entire seven-year minor league career in the Diamondbacks’ organization.

O’Sullivan, 26, had posted a 4.31 ERA with 4.8 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 87 2/3 innings with Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He will start the second game of the Phillies’ doubleheader against the Braves today.

The 29-year-old Jimenez appeared in two games for the 2014 Phils, firing a pair of shutout innings on a hit and a walk with one strikeout. He appeared in 19 games for the Phillies last season en route to a 3.71 ERA, and he has a career 4.81 ERA with 6.4 K/9, 4.1 BB/9 and a 36.9 percent ground-ball rate in 67 1/3 innings. Jimenez has held opposing left-handers in check, though he hasn’t necessarily dominated them– yielding a .245/.311/.355 batting line in his career.

Cedeno, 31, hit reasonably well with Triple-A Lehigh Valley, posting a .286/.327/.367 triple-slash in 160 plate appearances. He split last season between the Astros and Padres, posting a combined .617 OPS in 288 PA. In parts of nine big league seasons with the Cubs, Pirates, Mets, Mariners, Padres and Astros, Cedeno is a .246/.289/.354 hitter.

TUESDAY: The Phillies have released infielder Ronny Cedeno, the club announced. Cedeno had looked to be a decent bet to make the roster, especially with Freddy Galvis shelved to start the season. 

The 31-year-old spent last season with the Padres and Astros, putting up a combined .242/.287/.330 line in 288 plate appearances. It is probably fair to say that is a good approximation of his true talent, as both Cedeno's career line (.246/.289/.354) and his spring line (.182/.250/.273 in 24 plate appearances) are to much the same effect. Defensive metrics have never been big fans of Cedeno's work in the field, and his numbers took a downturn last year. At short, where he spent most of his time, Cedeno was graded at -7.6 UZR and -5 DRS in only 627 2/3 innings.

With the news, the Opening Day odds increase for Cesar Hernandez and Reid Brignac, Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer notes on Twitter.

Cedeno, who turns 31 next month, batted .242/.287/.330 with three homers and five steals in 288 plate appearances with the Astros and Padres in 2013. His strikeout rate jumped to a career-worst 25.3 percent last season, and his 4.9 percent walk rate was the second-lowest of his career.

In parts of nine Major League seasons with the Cubs, Pirates, Mets, Padres, Mariners and Astros, Cedeno is a career .246/.289/.354 hitter. He has extensive Major League experience at shortstop and second base, and he's also appeared at third base, first base and in the outfield.

• The Padres signed shortstop Ronny Cedeno to a minor league deal with the knowledge that starting shortstop Everth Cabrera may be suspended on Monday in connection with the Biogenesis investigation, GM Josh Byrnes told Bill Center of The San Diego Union-Tribune. “From Josh’s standpoint, we have to make sure we are covered at shortstop in case we need one,” manager Bud Black said.
• Cubs GM Jed Hoyer expects the waiver trade period to be more active than the non-waiver one, Manny Randhawa of MLB.com reports. However, Hoyer notes that there's some luck involved in putting together a trade after July 31. "If the wrong team claims a guy and won't give up any talent, you're kind of stuck, so waiver deals can work out, but you can also get stuck and not be able to make a deal," Hoyer said.
• Nationals starter Ross Detwiler's lingering back issues may cause him to miss the rest of the season, manager Davey Johnson indicated in an article by Amanda Comak of The Washington Times. As Adam Kilgore of The Washington Post reported in July, many rival executives expected the Nats to acquire a starter after Detwiler hit the DL early last month. However, GM Mike Rizzo's lone July deal was a trade to acquire bench bat Scott Hairston from the Cubs.

The shortstop was cut loose by Houston after batting just .220/.260/.298 in 51 games.  His departure from Houston cleared the way for the promotion of new starting shorstop Jonathan Villar.  Cedeno signed with the Astros in March after being released by the Cardinals.

July 21: The Astros have designated Carlos Pena and Ronny Cedeno for assignment, Brian T. Smith of the Houston Chronicle tweets. Cedeno's departure clears the way for Jonathan Villar, who has been promoted and will be the Astros' new starting shortstop.

Pena was hitting .209/.324/.350, continuing his longstanding trend of struggling to hit for average — he still takes plenty of walks, but he hasn't posted a batting average above .227 since 2008. He signed a one-year, $2.9MM contract with the Astros in December. Brett Wallace and Chris Carter appear likely to take over much of Pena's playing time at first base.

Cedeno was hitting .220/.260/.298 in 141 at bats. He signed with the Astros in March after being released by the Cardinals. Villar, 22, was hitting .278/.342/.444 for Triple-A Oklahoma City. The Astros acquired him, along with J.A. Happ and Anthony Gose, when they sent Roy Oswalt to the Phillies in 2010.

• Right-hander Billy Buckner cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment by the Angels to Triple-A Salt Lake, tweets MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez. Buckner was designated for assignment by the Angels last Thursday.
• Rich Harden asked for and was granted his release from the Twins organization, tweets Dustin Morse, Director of Baseball Communications and Player Relations for the club. Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press tweets Harden's contract contained an opt-out date of July 31, if he wasn't placed on the 25-man roster by then.
• The Astros announced that they have released shortstop Ronny Cedeno.  He will be free to sign with another club once he clears unconditional release waivers tomorrow.  Cedeno, who was designated for assignment last week, was hitting .220/.260/.298 in 155 plate appearances for Houston.  

Edward Creech contributed to this post.

• Astros GM Jeff Luhnow explains the rationale that led the team to replace Jed Lowrie with Tyler Greene, and then to replace Greene with Ronny Cedeno, Brian T. Smith of the Houston Chronicle reports. "When the Cardinals released Ronny Cedeno, he was a player that we had targeted during the offseason. But we had Lowrie most of the offseason, so we weren't aggressive," says Luhnow. "When (Cedeno) became available, we went back to our original plan, which was to try and get him in here." The Cardinals signed Cedeno in late January, while the Astros did not trade Lowrie (to the Athletics) until early February.
• Reliever Kameron Loe is hoping to stay with the Mariners, Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times writes. The Mariners need to decide by Tuesday whether to open a roster spot for Loe, or the non-roster pitcher could exercise an out clause in his contract. "I hope we can work something out," Loe says. "I really like it here." Loe posted a 4.61 ERA with 7.2 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 in 68 1/3 innings for the Brewers in 2012.
  
  Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/03/24/3305044/loe-hoping-to-remain-with-mariners.html#storylink=cpy

After the Astros' February trade of Jed Lowrie to the Athletics, Tyler Greene and Marwin Gonzalez top the organization's depth chart at shortstop, but neither has been impressive this spring. Cedeno also plays second base, although Jose Altuve is entrenched there.

Cedeno hit .259/.332/.410 in 78 games for the Mets last season. He has also played for the Pirates, Mariners and Cubs. After losing Nate Freiman to the Athletics, the Astros have space for Cedeno on their 40-man roster.

MLB.com's Brian McTaggart first reported that the two sides were nearing a deal and also was the first to report the deal was completed.

Steve Adams contributed to this post.

• The Cubs haven't been in contact with Chone Figgins, ESPN Chicago's Jesse Rogers reports.  Figgins was released by the Marlins earlier this week and, as Rogers notes, is one of the few veteran options available if the Cubs want to bring in a third baseman.
• Ronny Cedeno has cleared waivers after being released by the Cardinals three days ago, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports (via Twitter).
• Chris Cwik of CBSSports.com analyzes the cost of an Adam Wainwright extension with the Cardinals and figures Wainwright will end up being paid between $21-$23.5MM per season.  Talks are ongoing between Wainwright and the Cards and the ace right-hander feels positive that an extension will be settled before Opening Day.  Wainwright is eligible for free agency after this season.
• Jonathan Sanchez can opt out of his minor league deal with the Pirates on Sunday if he hasn't been added to the club's Major League roster, but the Bucs have until Tuesday to respond, MLB.com's Tom Singer reports.  Sanchez's one-year contract will guarantee him $1.375MM if he makes the roster.
• Also from Singer, he opines that the Pirates' trade for John McDonald is the kind of veteran acquisition a team makes when it believes it will contend.  Otherwise, Singer wonders why Pittsburgh would add McDonald to an already-deep middle infield mix.

Cedeno played for the Mets last year, appearing in 78 games, mostly as a middle infielder. The 30-year-old posted a .259/.332/.410 batting line in 186 plate appearances with New York. He earned $1.2MM in 2012 and drew interest from multiple teams this past offseason.

Matt Adams has an excellent chance of making the Cardinals' bench now, as Goold notes. Daniel Descalso figures to back up Pete Kozma at shortstop and Ty Wigginton will provide depth at the corner positions.