Bruce Chen designated for assignment

After last night's "Chen-tastrophe", the Royals finally designated left-handed pitcher Bruce Chen for assignment. Chen had been used very sparingly, making just eight appearances over the last two months, capped off by a six-run outings in one inning for work in an 11-5 loss last night to the Twins. In all, Chen was 2-4 with a 7.45 ERA in 48 1/3 innings for the Royals after signing a one-year $3 million contract last winter.

Chen has a $5.5 million player option for 2015 that the Royals will certainly buyout now, paying $1.25 million to get rid of him. In six seasons with Kansas City, Chen was 47-43 in 156 games with a 4.53 ERA. Chen has the second most starts in the Dayton Moore era with 113, behind only Luke Hochevar, and is sixteenth all-time in franchise history. The 37-year old is a sixteen-year Major League veteran with experience on ten different ballclubs.

To replace Chen on the roster, the Royals have recalled right-handed reliever Louis Coleman from AAA Omaha. Coleman had a 7.48 ERA in 21 2/3 innings earlier this year for the Royals but had a 3.86 ERA in 39 2/3 innings with 12 strikeouts per nine innings in AAA. The right-handed reliever has a career 3.33 ERA in 162 big league innings.