Notes

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — ROYALS Pitching change made

The Kansas City Royals have cut left-handed pitcher Ron Mahay and promoted right-hander Yasuhiko Yabuta from the minors.

The Royals designated Mahay for assignment Monday. He was 1-1 with a 4.79 ERA in 41 games.

The 36-year-old Yabuta was 2-1 with a 3.55 ERA with Class AAA Omaha. He struck out 53 in 45 2 /3 innings.

METS Ace scratched

NEW YORK - Johan Santana and Jeff Francoeur are the latest New York Mets stars to be sidelined with injuries.

Santana had been slated to pitch tonight in Florida. Instead, the left-hander will be examined by Mets medical director Dr. David Altchek because of discomfort in his pitching elbow. Francoeur has a torn ligament in his left thumb, leaving New York without its right fielder and top hitter.

The Mets have 11 players on the disabled list, including David Wright, Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado, J.J. Putz and John Maine.

Santana is 13-9 with a 3.13 ERA in 25 starts during his second season with the Mets. He was acquired in a February 2008 trade with Minnesota.

"He has not been throwing between starts for quite awhile. I would say since before the All-Star break. He has been pitching with this problem, but not with the level of discomfort he has now," New York Manager Jerry Manuel said Monday after his team's 6-2 loss to Philadelphia. "Now, it concerns him."

Francoeur, whose torn ligament is on his nonthrowing hand, is day-to-day, the club said, but he is expected to miss at least a handful of games.

"The right thing now is to let the swelling go down. It's kind of big," Francoeur said. "I'm going to try to play through it to the end of the season.If I can rest it for two or three days and then play, I'm going to do it. You might say, 'Why bother? We only have 38 games left.' But I came here to play and I want to play."

Acquired last month in a trade with Atlanta, Francoeur was injured Sunday while making a diving catch. Since joining the Mets on July 11, Francoeur has been the team's most productive hitter. He is batting .305 with 6 home runs and 24 RBI in 39 games. He also has eight doubles and two triples.

Wagner wants option declined

NEW YORK - Billy Wagner wants to be a closer next season, regardless of which team he's on.

That's why the New York Mets reliever said Boston must guarantee it will decline his contract option for2010 before he would approve a potential trade this week to the Red Sox, who already have an All-Star closer in Jonathan Papelbon.

"I don't want to end my career as a setup man," Wagner said. "I'd like to have that option."

Wagner has a no-trade clause in his contract, which includes an $8 million option for next year with a $1 million buyout. If his option is declined, he can become a free agent in the off-season and sign with any team.

Wagner confirmed Monday that Boston placed a waiver claim on him Friday. The fourth-place Mets have until Tuesday to trade him to the Red Sox, pull him back off waivers or assign him to Boston for nothing in return.

If the Mets pull Wagner back, they can't trade him for the rest of the season. If they let him go to Boston, the Red Sox would be responsible for the nearly $3.5 million owed to Wagner under his current contract.

FOXSports.com reported late Sunday that Wagner's agent, Bean Stringfellow, had another condition for Wagner accepting a trade to Boston: He wants the Red Sox to guarantee they won't offer Wagner salary arbitration this off-season, thus making him more attractive to potential suitors on the open market, because those teams wouldn't have to give up high draft picks as compensation for signing him.

According to the FOXSports.com report, Stringfellow said Boston rejected both demands.

ROCKIES

Giambi gets minor league deal

DENVER - The Colorado Rockies have signed former AL MVP Jason Giambi to a minor league contract.

The 38-year-old Giambi will report to Class AAA Colorado Springs, hoping for a September call-up to help the Rockies with their pennant push. Colorado went into Monday with a three-game lead in the NL wild-card race.

Giambi was cut by Oakland earlier this month after hitting .193 with 11 home runs and 40 RBI. He had been on the disabled list because of a strained right quadriceps before the A's released him, cutting short the struggling slugger's return to his first major league club.

A five-time All-Star, Giambi had returned to Oakland this season after seven years with the New York Yankees.

Although he has played all 1,933 games of his career for American League teams, Giambi has a .274 batting average with 44 home runs and 137 RBI in 193 games against National League clubs in his 15-year career.