• Dan Klein, once a highly-rated Orioles prospect, was been placed on the club's voluntary retirement list, tweets Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports. A third round pick in the 2010 draft, Klein was dominant in the short time he spent on the mound, putting up a composite 1.11 ERA over 32 1/3 innings split between High-A and Double-A in the 2011 season as a 22-year-old. Since then, however, Klein has struggled with a series major shoulder injuries. As MASN's Steve Melewski detailed last fall, Klein was hopeful of getting back on track this year, but he ultimately never advanced far enough to make a minor league appearance. 
• The Norfolk Tides, the Triple-A affiliate of the Orioles, have announced the release of left-hander Zach Braddock (on Twitter). The 25-year-old Braddock has a 4.41 ERA, 10.4 K/9 and 5.3 BB/9 in 51 Major League innings — all coming with the Brewers from 2010-11. Big strikeout numbers and high walk totals have been the norm for the New Jersey native since he was selected by the Brewers in the 18th round of the 2005 draft.
• Left-hander Royce Ring has signed with the Long Island Ducks, tweets ESPN New York's Adam Rubin. Royce, 32, was selected by the White Sox with the 18th overall pick in the 2002 draft. In parts of five Major League seasons with the Mets, Padres, Braves and Yankees, the San Diego State University product has a 5.29 ERA, 7.3 K/9 and 5.6 BB/9.

Jeff Todd contributed to this post.

• The Yankees re-signed right-hander Kanekoa Texeira to a minor league deal. They released the reliever earlier in the month after re-acquiring him in May.
• The Red Sox signed left-hander Royce Ring to a minor league deal. The former first rounder logged 23 2/3 innings for the Mariners' Triple-A affiliate this year, posting a 6.08 ERA with 12.5 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9.
• The Padres signed right-hander John Van Benschoten from the Atlantic League. The former Pirate hasn't appeared in the Major Leagues since 2008.
• The Rays released R.J. Swindle, who last appeared in the Major Leagues in 2009. The left-hander had been pitching at Triple-A, where he had a 4.15 ERA with 9.3 K/9 and 4.4 BB/9 in 34 2/3 innings.
• The Dodgers released Merkin Valdez. The right-hander, who appeared in two games for Toronto last year, had a 3.58 ERA with 7.7 K/9 and 4.3 BB/9 in 50 1/3 innings at Triple-A.
• The Brewers released 28-year-old lefty Chase Wright. The former third round pick had a 5.83 ERA with 5.7 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9 in 71 innings in the upper minors this year.

• Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review tweets that All-Star Joel Hanrahan doesn't have a bonus for being selected to the All-Star Game built into this year's contract with the Pirates, but you can bet his 2012 contract will have one.
• ESPN's Buster Olney tweets that Rich Harden could make sense for the Rockies or Diamondbacks if he continues throwing well.
• Olney quotes ESPN's Evan Cohen in this tweet, pointing out that the Dodgers owe $74MM to 40 creditors, which is more than twice the $31MM they have committed to players for 2012.
• The New York Post's Joel Sherman spoke to a Yankees executive and says it's unlikely that they pursue Royce Ring (Twitter link), who opted out of his contract with the Mariners today. Ring had a solid 2010 season for the Yanks' Triple-A affiliate.
• The Indians could use an outfielder and Paul Hoynes of The Plain Dealer outlined some possible trade targets for the Tribe.  Ryan Ludwick, Melky Cabrera, Jeff Francoeur, and Jason Kubel are among the names suggested.
• Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (via Twitter) expects Padres reliever Chad Qualls to be dealt.
• Between Latin American prospects Elier Hernandez and Nomar Mazara, Ben Badler of Baseball America (via Twitter) prefers the potential of Hernandez.  Hernandez signed with the Royals yesterday for $3.05MM while Mazara agreed to a record setting deal worth more than $5MM with the Rangers.

After posting a 1.93 ERA, 8.4 K/9, and 2.4 BB/9 in 42 Triple-A innings for the Yankees' affiliate in 2010, Ring hasn't been able to find similar success in 2011.  In 27 apperances for Triple-A Tacoma, Ring has a 6.08 ERA with 12.5 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9.

Langerhans, 31 in February, hit .207/.328/.351 in 254 plate appearances over the last two seasons with the Mariners, playing mostly left field.  He was non-tendered by the Mariners a year ago, re-signed shortly thereafter, designated for assignment in April, and outrighted in November.

Bautista, 28, posted a 3.74 ERA, 11.8 K/9, 7.2 BB/9, 1.1 HR/9, and 33.3% groundball rate in 33 2/3 innings for the Giants this year.  He averaged almost 95 mph on his fastball, but clearly had control issues.  In a 22 2/3 inning Triple-A stint, his walk rate was down at 3.6 per nine.     

Gimenez, 28 later this month, has 197 big league plate appearances with the Indians to his name.  This year at Triple-A, he hit .276/.341/.464 in 219 plate appearances while spending time at catcher and the outfield corners.  He can also handle the infield corners.

Ring, 30 later this month, posted a 1.93 ERA, 8.4 K/9, 2.4 BB/9, and 0.4 HR/9 in 42 Triple-A innings for the Yankees' affiliate this year.  The southpaw posted a 9.8 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 against lefty batters.

• The Braves
 re-signed Brent Clevlen and signed independent leaguer Beau Torbert, who posted tremendous numbers in the American Association this year. Earlier in the week, Torbert told David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he's excited to be joining the Braves.
• The Astros signed right-hander Casey Fien. Fien has appeared in 11 games for the Tigers, but the 27-year-old has not proven himself against big league hitters.
• Former Yankees lefty Royce Ring elected free agency.
• The Pirates released Chris Jakubauskas and saw Brandon Moss elect free agency. Moss arrived in Pittsburgh in the Jason Bay trade, but he hit just .228/.295/.373 in parts of three seasons for the Pirates.
• Former Mariners catcher Guillermo Quiroz became a free agent.
• The Rangers signed Kevin Cash. The 32-year-old backstop posted a .483 OPS for the Astros and Red Sox last year and threw out an uncharacteristically low percentage of would be base stealers.

• Jon Heyman of SI.com tweets that Terry Collins' name has popped up in connection with the Mets' managerial search. Collins spent the 2010 season as minor league field coordinator with the organization.
• The Rockies have not expressed interest in Brandon Webb, tweets Troy Renck of the Denver Post. 
• Armando Galarraga qualified as a Super Two, which puts him in a unique spot according to MLB.com's Jason Beck.
• Anthony McCarron of The New York Daily News reports that Royce Ring has elected free agency after being outrighted off the 40-man roster by the Yankees (Twitter link).
• Former Yankee right-hander Darrell Rasner has signed a one-year deal with an option for 2012 with the Rakuten Golden Eagles, reports Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker. Rasner has played in Japan since 2008.
• Heyman spoke to Adrian Gonzalez's agent, who mentioned Joe Mauer, Mark Teixeira, and Ryan Howard are contract comparables (Twitter link). It's pretty clear that they're seeking upwards of $22MM annually.
• Meanwhile, Padres GM Jed Hoyer has spoken to Jerry Hairston Jr.'s agent about bringing the utility player back to San Diego next season according to MLB.com's Corey Brock. Hairston has indicated that he'd like to return to the team.
• Ken Davidoff of Newsday tweets that a competing executive sees the Nationals signing Carlos Pena. The team is emphasizing defense, which Pena excels at, and GM Mike Rizzo has a strong relationship with his agent Scott Boras.
• Adam Kilgore of The Washington Post hears from a source close to the team that the Nats will in fact pursue Brandon Webb this offseason. We heard rumblings about potential mutual interest between the two sides last month.
• Boras indicated that he's received "a lot of early calls" about Magglio Ordonez according to MLB.com's Jason Beck. If the outfielder is going to return to Detroit, it won't happen quickly; he and Boras are going to see what the market has to offer.

Gaudin, 28 in March, was named by MLBTR as a non-tender candidate earlier today.  He didn't make it that far after posting a 5.65 ERA, 7.3 K/9, 3.4 BB/9, 2.2 HR/9, and 39.2% groundball rate in 65.3 innings for the Yankees and Athletics this year.

Ring, a lefty reliever, turns 30 in December.  He spent most of the season at Triple-A, posting a 1.93 ERA, 8.4 K/9, 2.4 BB/9, and 0.4 HR/9 in 42 innings.

• The White Sox signed 1B/OF Jason Botts, who compiled a .230/.325/.344 career line with the Rangers.
• The Marlins signed reliever Chris Schroder, who posted a 2.22 ERA in 56.6 Triple A innings last year.
• The Dodgers brought Jay Gibbons aboard.  Gibbons signed a minor league deal with the Marlins in January of '09 and was cut in March.
• The Yankees added outfielder Reid Gorecki, who hit .286/.351/.464 in Triple A.  Also, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the Yanks signed lefty reliever Royce Ring and outfielder David Winfree. 
• The Giants signed reliever Kevin Cameron, who had a respectable rookie season with the Padres back in '07.  He pitched only 32.3 innings in '09 for various A's affiliates.
• The Blue Jays signed left fielder Chris Lubanski, who was originally drafted fifth overall by the Royals in 2003.

Meanwhile, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says lefty reliever Royce Ring accepted his Triple A assignment.

• The Royals DFA’d Yasuhiko Yabuta. The White Sox had tried to sign the Japanese reliever last winter but were unsuccessful. Yabuta was 1-3 with a 5.46 ERA and had signed a two-year, $6MM deal with Kansas City.
• The Rockies tried desperately to acquire a fifth starter before the non-waiver deadline but couldn’t match-up with the Mariners for Jarrod Washburn or the Nationals for Tim Redding; and Paul Byrd had Colorado on his no-trade list. The Rockies will continue to look for a starter via waiver wire claims.
• Arthur Rhodes was shocked when he learned he had been traded to the Marlins. ”There had been a lot of talk about me being traded to a couple of other teams, but I guess Florida wanted me more."
• The Braves DFA’d back-up catcher Corky Miller yesterday, and Royce Ring today.
• Also today (and in that Ring link), the Astros DFA’d Chad Paronto.

Alejandro A. Leal writes for UmpBump.com. Post-deadline rumors? Comments? alexo05 [at] umpbump [daught] com.

• Rosenthal adds Mark Loretta as a possible third base acquisition for the Dodgers.  Given their desire for a relatively affordable guy who can also handle second, Rosenthal has linked them to Ron Belliard and Esteban German previously.  Loretta shouldn’t be too hard to pry away from the Astros.  Though he can’t play second, Morgan Ensberg could be an option if the Yankees let him leave.
• The Nats are shopping Felipe Lopez, who’s said he wouldn’t be content on the bench.  Rosenthal says the Nationals have their eye on awful shortstop Angel Berroa as a possible replacement, which is strange on multiple levels.  Not only is Berroa not a Major Leaguer at this point, but the Nats plan to use Cristian Guzman at short.
• Royce Ring is said to be "perhaps the most available of the Braves’ out of options relievers."  Who needs a lefty?

Should be nice to have Ring around in case things don’t work out with Ron Mahay. Still, it would’ve been nice to see John Schuerholz come up with some kind of starter for the back end of the rotation.  Maybe in August.

Startup’s been solid in Triple A, and the Padres might be able to coax some goodness out of the twice-traded Ledezma. 

With so many decent lefties floating around at minimal cost, you have to wonder why a team would ever sign Mike Stanton.  But that’s why they’re GMs and I’m just a guy who blogs until he gets carpal tunnel.