News and notes from this Sunday around baseball:
- Ryan Cook made the All-Star team, but his struggles -- nine runs allowed in his last eight innings -- have pushed him out of the closer role for the Athletics. Now Grant Balfour, the club's initial closer, has the inside track at saves in Oakland, although manager Bob Melvin wouldn't fully commit, Joe Stiglich of the Bay Area News Group reported.
- The Pirates demoted reliever Jared Hughes to Triple-A Indianapolis and activated Juan Cruz from the disabled list, Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported. Hughes was a casualty of his remaining options but will likely return to the club soon, as he owns a 2.70 ERA in 56.2 innings of his first full MLB season.
- The Cubs signed Seth McClung to a minor league deal, Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune reported. The Cubs needed starting pitcher depth in the minors after Casey Coleman was forced to leave his start at Triple-A Iowa with shoulder pain. McClung was last seen in the Brewers' minor league system earlier this season.
For more up-to-the-minute news and analysis on the latest rumors from bloggers Chris Cwik, Jack Moore and Navin Vaswani, follow @MLBRumorsCBS.
