Sunday Morning Roster Rumblings: Ryan Braun Update, Brett Lawrie, Jose Reyes, Carl Crawford and Others

I decided to change the name of this weekly post. If anyone has other ideas, leave it in the comments.

Yesterday, the Athletics announced that prospect Grant Green is moving from shortstop to centerfield, and according to Susan Slusser at the San Francisco Chronicle, could fast track him to the majors:

Changing spots: Grant Green, the MVP of Sunday's Futures Game, is moving from shortstop at Double-A Midland to center field, and he'll be there regularly, according to assistant GM David Forst. The shift could hasten Green's arrival in the big leagues.

Green is hitting .289-.351-.401 with 4 HRs, 41 RBIs and 3 SBs at AA Midland in the Texas League this season. Last year at High A Stockton, he hit .318-.363-.520 with 20 HRs, 87 RBIs, and a 117-38 K/BB rate in 548 at bats. 

Blue Jays third baseman Jose Bautista, out with an injured ankle, is looking to return to game action on Tuesday. I hope the ankle doesn't affect his power stroke.

Speaking of the Blue Jays, third base prospect Brett Lawrie is rehabbing at Low A Dunedin and is slated to play there through the weekend, according to Bill Lankhof of the Toronto Sun:

The 21-year-old will remain with Dunedin throughout the weekend before being re-evaluated but both Farrell and general manager Alex Anthopoulos have been adamant he will go to Vegas rather than directly to Toronto.

"There’s no date (for a callup)," said Farrell. "The fact he’s missed six to seven weeks, he’s going to need a minimum of 10 games at Vegas, if not more. In fairness to him we have to let him get back in the flow."

This sounds like he will be back by the end of the month or early August. 

More Roster Rumblings after the jump:

Astros manager Brad Mills stated yesterday that Matt Downs will be his everyday third baseman. Downs is only rosterable in NL-only leagues at this point, as he is hitting .260-.355-.519 with 6 HRs, 22 RBIs, 15 extra base hits, and a 23-13 K/BB rate in 104 at bats this season. What happened to Chris Johnson?

Phillies starter Roy Oswalt is looking to get back on the mound soon. He will get some mound work in before starting a rehab assignment. Oswalt will probably get 2-3 rehab starts, before being activated by the Phillies. If all goes well, it appears he could be back in early August.

Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz does not appear anywhere close to returning from his back injury. He is just playing catch right now, and has not started throwing off the mound yet. With Jon Lester on the DL, John Lackey pitching like he is injured, and Andrew Miller pitching like...well, Andrew Miller, the Red Sox should be hot after all available starting pitching in the trade market.

Pirates outfielder Jose Tabata is out indefinitely according to Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune:

Pirates outfielder Jose Tabata felt tightness in his sore quadriceps as he rounded a base Thursday night and had to leave the game early during his rehab assignment with Single-A Bradenton. He did not play Friday and is out indefinitely.

"They're going to re-evaluate (today)," manager Clint Hurdle said. "He didn't want to push it right now. All the tests came back pretty good. There wasn't a re-injury type thing. For a young player whose game is dictated by speed, it was smarter backing away from the flame right there than trying to push through it."

The Pirates are playing it safe with Tabata, and right now they are playing very well, so there is no need to rush him. Alex Presley has played well in Tabata's absence, and should move over to right field when Tabata returns.

Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun re-injured his left calf and hamstring in last night's game and was pulled in the 6th inning after grounding out. Here are some comments from Braun via Todd Rosiak's blog at the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

When asked if was becoming more concerned about the injury, Braun was blunt.

"I mean, I can't run. That's the biggest concern," he said. "It was more preventive than anything else."

Could the disabled list be a possibility if the injury continues to linger?

"We talked about ir prior to me coming back a couple days ago," he said. "Obviously it's something that I want to avoid and they want to avoid. We'll just continue to monitor it every day."

I wondered if a DL stint was a possibility in the Roundup this morning. With the Brewers in a race for the division, I am sure the Brewers will wait as long as possible before sending their best hitter to the DL.

Mets shortstop Jose Reyes ran the bases today and said he is ready to return from the DL. He could return from the DL on Tuesday. 

Red Sox outfielder Carl Crawford has been cleared to come off the DL, and will be back with the team on Monday. Fantasy owners should get him back in their lineup this week as he has to get hot at some point, right?