Sunday Morning Roster Noise: Derek Jeter, Shin-Soo Choo, Jonathan Sanchez, and Others

There are plenty of roster decisions to make this weekend, as Shin Soo Choo, Jonathan Sanchez and Roy Oswalt landed on the DL. 

Indians outfielder Shin-Soo Choo was placed on the DL with a fractured left thumb and will be out at least 6 weeks. The Indians called up Travis Buck to take his spot on the roster, but Austin Kearns got the start on Saturday. It appears Kearns and Buck will split time in right field while Choo is out.

Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez announced yesterday that he has been playing with a sore right knee for the past week. I am sure ARod will be out there everyday unless it begins to affect him at the plate.

The Giants placed starter Jonathan Sanchez on the DL with left biceps tendinitis and coincidentally Barry Zito was activated and will start on Tuesday. Sanchez has walked 43 batters in his last 10 starts covering 56 innings. For the season, he has a 92-59 K/BB rate in 89+ innings pitched.

More Roster Noise after the jump:

Dodgers shortstop Rafael Furcal will start his rehab assignment on Sunday and when ready to return, he could end up playing second base, as the Dodgers are happy with the play of shortstop prospect Dee Gordon. I wonder if the Dodgers are looking to increase Furcal's trade value, as he is a free agent at the end of the season.

Speaking of the Dodgers, Don Mattingley announced this week that Jonathan Broxton will return as the Dodgers closer when he comes off the DL, which will probably be next Friday. I read where his fastball velocity was down 2 mph when he worked for the second day in a row recently. Something to watch when he comes off the DL.

Reds outfielder Chris Heisey hit 3 homers on Thursday night against the Yankees and has started the last two games and batted leadoff. For me, Heisey should be playing everyday, as he is the best of the three left fielders that the Reds have on their 25 man roster.

Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter was supposed to come off the DL on Wednesday June 29th, but he has not begun running yet, so he will not come off the DL this week. He will more than likely be activated sometime in July, and no timetable has been set for Jeter's return.

The Diamondbacks are half a game behind the Giants in the NL West and looking at their lineup, they have shortstop Stephen Drew batting cleanup. I have to think they will deal for a power hitting cleanup hitter by the trade deadline. 

It was announced on Saturday that Phillies pitcher Roy Oswalt will be out until August after being diagnosed with a bulging disk in his lower back. I can see the Phillies looking to deal for a starting pitcher along with some relief help by the July 31st trade deadline.

Twins left fielder Delmon Young landed on the DL on Saturday after spraining his ankle running into the wall at Milwaukee last night. Jason Repko could see additional time in left field until Young returns.

Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez, out since May 19th, suffered a setback in his rehab as he is still experiencing discomfort in his strained quad. Baseball Prospectus' John Perrotto reported earlier this week that Alvarez will be out until August.