The Diamondbacks have placed 25-year old switch hitting infielder Tony Abreu on the 15-day disabled list with a left wrist sprain. Abreu has played in 30 games this season for the D-Backs and he is 21 of 67 (.313 avg, .722 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 5 RBIs and 1 stolen base. The Diamondbacks have recalled 29-year old righty swinging infielder Ryan Roberts from AAA to replace Abreu on the active roster. Roberts has played in 43 games in AAA-ball this year and he is 44 of 160 (.275 avg, .806 OPS) with 27 runs scored, 3 homers, 26 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. Roberts played in 110 games for the D-Backs last year in which he was 85 of 305 (.279 avg, .783 OPS) with 41 runs scored, 7 homers, 25 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. The D-Backs fully expect Roberts to do a good job while Abreu is out of action.

The Diamondbacks can’t wait to fortify a weak bullpen or they are going to sabotage the rest of the year. With that in mind the top four targets of the D-Backs should be Kerry Wood (Indians), Octavio Dotel (Pirates) and Jason Frasor & Scott Downs (Blue Jays). Downs and Frasor are the guys pitching the best of this bunch but the Blue Jays would probably want outfielder Gerardo Parra for either of them and that price might be too high for the D-Backs’ blood. Kerry Wood’s stuff looks excellent but the results aren’t there yet for the Indians. The Indians would likely have to send all of his pay to get Rusty Ryal and Kevin Mulvey or Billy Buckner back. I would aim more for Octavio Dotel as the Pirates would also be willing to probably toss in Brendan Donnelly, D.J. Carrasco or Javier Lopez if they could get back Mulvey, Buckner and Ryal. I think I would send those three guys to the Pirates for Dotel and Carrasco which would bolster the pen without giving the Pirates a outstanding package of players.

The D-Backs have lost 25-year old lefty reliever Clay Zavada for the year due to Tommy John Surgery. The D-Backs knew something was wrong with Zavada based on his pitching in AAA this year. Zavada pitched in 5 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball this year and he was 0-1 with a 30.00 ERA and a 5.33 WHIP. He gave up 6 hits and walked 10 batters in only 3 innings in the minors this season. This hurts the Diamondbacks as they were planning to bring Zavada up at some point this season as he pitched pretty good for them last year. Zavada pitched in 49 games (0 starts) for the D-Backs last season and he was 3-3 with a 3.35 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP as he whiffed 52 batters in only 51 innings in 2009.

The D-Backs have inked 28-year old lefty swinging 1B/OF Kory Casto to a minor league deal. Casto has played in 743 games in his minor league career (7 years) in which he is 740 of 2,719 (.272 avg, .796 OPS) with 395 runs scored, 87 homers, 425 RBIs and 23 stolen bases. He was once one of the better prospects in the Expos/Nationals system be he hasn’t panned out in the majors to this point. He has played in 2008 with the Nationals. Casto has played in 82 games in his major league career and he is 42 of 217 (.194 avg, .540 OPS) with 16 runs scored, 2 homers and 19 RBIs. Sometimes players like Casto need a new start and the D-Backs are going to give him one.

The Diamondbacks have signed 32-year old righty reliever Luis Ayala to a minor league deal. Ayala pitched in 14 games (0 starts) for the Dodgers in AAA-ball before opting out of his contract. He was 1-3 with 4 saves, a 4.50 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP in AAA for the Dodgers. He has pitched in 377 games (0 starts) in his major league career and he is 29-39 with 18 saves, a 3.67 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. If he gets off to a good start in the minors for the D-Backs he won’t be there to long.