Boston

Alex Cora - Placed on the 15-day DL, retroactive to April 10.

He has a sprained right elbow and was to have an MRI on it late yesterday.  He appeared 4 times at the plate so far this season and got on base every time: 3 singles and a walk.  Talk about valuable off the bench.

Joe Thurston - Purchased the contract from Pawtucket (IL).

The left-handed hitter was batting .256/.289/.302 in AAA so far in 2008.

From SI:

Boston purchased the contract of infielder Joe Thurston from Triple-A Pawtucket to fill the roster spot. He signed as a minor league free agent in December and batted .351 with one homer and three RBIs during spring training.

Thurston has played 55 major league games with the Los Angeles Dodgers (2002-04) and Philadelphia (2006), batting .259 with two RBIs. He was hitting .255 with two RBIs in 12 games at Pawtucket.

"There is an opportunity here for him,'' Francona said. "He worked hard to make himself valuable at every position, and so we have a role for him now.''

Francona elected not to bring up a pitcher because neither Jonathan Papelbon nor Mike Timlin pitched in Tuesday's 5-3 win at Cleveland.

"The way we worked through last night leaves us in pretty good shape for this series,'' Francona said. "We could have pitched Timlin yesterday but we didn't want to. We could have used Pap, but we didn't want to and, as it turned out, we didn't have to. So that made the decision a little easier.''

Chicago Cubs

Alfonso Soriano - Placed on the 15-day DL.

Baseball Digest Daily had it covered yesterday.  As far as his bat is concerned, his .528 OPS will not make a big dent in the Cubs offense for the next few days.

Eric Patterson - Recalled from Iowa (PCL).

The left-handed batting outfielder was mainly a 2B in his first two years in the minor leagues, but was moved to the outfield to facilitate his ascension to the big leagues.  Then the costly signings happened...

He has very good numbers in the minors (career): .296/.364/.462.  He can also steal bases effectively (114 swipe in 4 seasons - 77% effectiveness).  That said, he was not having great success in the beginning of the AAA season, with a .222 average and 12 K in 36 AB.

Here's what the team will do with its defense and lineup:

The Cubs recalled super-utility player Eric Patterson from Class AAA Iowa to replace Soriano on the roster, electing to have the more athletic, versatile and left-handed hitting player on the roster than accomplished, right-handed hitting left fielder Matt Murton.

Mark DeRosa moves from second base to replace Soriano in left field until further notice, with lefty-hitting second baseman Mike Fontenot moving into the lineup - taking Soriano's leadoff spot tonight against the Cincinnati Reds.

LA (Anaheim)

Alex Serrano - Purchased the contract from Salt Lake (PCL).
Reggie Willits - Optioned to Salt Lake.

His .394 major league OBP will now rot in the minors and at the age of 27-year-old, that's a shame.  He appeared in 5 games this season, but only had one at-bat, a double that scored two runners.

Oakland

Fernando Hernandez - Returned Rule 5 draft selection to the Chicago White Sox.

Oakland really liked and wanted to keep the 23-year-old right-handed pitcher, but they could not agree to a deal to keep the fireballer.  Instead, they kept Kirk Saarloos, because Hernandez was not performing like he did in Spring Training (10 IP, 10 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 7 K).  Not a good decision, especially since they could have kept him after this year had they been able to keep him on the 25-man roster all season long.  Their rebuilding phase could have produced another interesting arm for their future pitching staff.

Seattle

Brandon Morrow - Recalled from West Tennessee (SL).

Incredible stuff, but has no idea where it's going.  Walks are a HUGE problem; over 6 and even 7 walks per nine innings.

Tampa Bay

Al Reyes - Placed on the 15-day DL.
Kurt Birkins - Activated from the 15-day DL.

Washington Nationals

Wil Nieves - Purchased the contract from Columbus (IL).
Chris Schroder - Optioned to Columbus.