Major League Notebook: July 30

Here is what's happening around baseball on Friday July 30, 2010:

• Rangers first baseman Chris Davis probably saw the Cliff Lee trade, which sent fellow first baseman Justin Smoak to Seattle, as a good one for his career. It cleared the way for him to get regular time (again) at first in Texas. Turns out with the Jorge Cantu trade, that's a short-lived feeling.

Davis was sent back to the minors with Cantu coming aboard and Mitch Moreland getting called up in the wake of Ian Kinsler's move to the disabled list. It's another frustrating and puzzling chapter in Davis' career. He has big power, but he hasn't been able to put everything else together to stick as a big-league regular.

• Just in case you were wondering how crazy this time of year can get, consider this MLB.com report which has the Rangers inquiring on Marlins ace Josh Johnson during the Cantu negotiations and offering any of their best prospects in return. Nothing came of it, but that doesn't mean it wasn't discussed.

• Major League Baseball has rescinded the four-game suspension of Braves pitcher Jonny Venters.

• Orlando Hernandez pitched in the minors for the Nationals Thursday night, but he's a long way from joining the team. John Lannan will replace Stephen Strasburg in the Washington rotation this weekend.

• Cubs manager Lou Piniella will miss the team's next three games to attend the funeral of his uncle, Joseph Magadan, who died Thursday. Magadan is the father of former major leaguer Dave Magadan.


Injury Ward

• Braves All-Star Martin Prado underwent X-rays Friday night after jamming a finger on his right hand while sliding.

• J.D. Drew's hamstring tightened up on him during batting practice Friday and he was a late scratch from the Red Sox lineup.

• Johnny Damon was scratched from the Tigers' lineup with upper back spasms.

• Braves shortstop Alex Gonzalez was taken to a Cincinnati-area hospital early Friday and treated for gastritis. He hopes to be back in the lineup sometime this weekend.

Transaction Wire

• The Cubs officially reinstated Carlos Zambrano from the restricted list and released reliever Bob Howry.

• The A's reinstated lefty Brett Anderson from the disabled list and put Andrew Bailey on the DL with a right intercostal strain, retroactive to July 21. The A's also reinstated Travis Buck from the 60-day DL and optioned him to Triple-A while transferring Ryan Sweeney from the 15-day to the 60-day DL.

• The Twins cleared a spot for Matt Capps by optioning Nick Blackburn to Triple-A. In addition, they put Nick Punto on the 15-day DL with a strained left hamstring and called up Trevor Plouffe.

• The Padres optioned outfielder Aaron Cunningham to Triple-A to clear a roster spot for Miguel Tejada.

• The Indians shook up their pitching staff, putting Mitch Talbot on the disabled list with a back strain, optioning Jess Todd to Triple-A and bringing up Justin Germano and Jensen Lewis from Columbus.

• The White Sox recalled right-hander Lucas Harrell from Triple-A to start Friday night against the A's. He got the win in his major league debut, then was promptly optioned back to Charlotte.

• The Nationals recalled lefty reliever Atahualpa Severino from Triple-A to take Matt Capps' roster spot.

• The Tigers purchased the contract of outfielder Jeff Frazier from the minors and designated the contract of infielder Jeff Larish for assignment.

• The Blue Jays acquired Triple-A first baseman Mike Jacobs from the Mets for a player to be named. Jacobs presumably will replace the departed Brett Wallace.