ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Relief pitcher Cody Allen and the Los Angeles Angels have finalized a one-year contract for $8.5 million.He can earn an additional $2 million in performance bonuses for games finished as part of the deal announced Sunday: $250,000 each for 35 and 40, and $500,000 apiece for 45, 50 and 55.Allen had a career-high 4.70 ERA for Cleveland last season, going 4-6 with 27 saves in 70 games. The 30-year-old righty is the Indians' franchise leader with 149 saves.The Angels posted a total of 35 saves last year, ranking 12th in the American League. Blake Parker led the team with 14 saves, wasn't offered a contract after the season and signed with Minnesota.Starters Matt Harvey and Trevor Cahill joined with the Angels earlier in the offseason.Right-hander Miguel Almonte was designated for assignment. Almonte, 25, was 0-0 with a 10.29 ERA in eight games for the Angels last year.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Relief pitcher Cody Allen and the Los Angeles Angels have finalized a one-year contract for $8.5 million.The Angels announced the signing Sunday.Allen had a career-high 4.70 ERA for Cleveland last season, going 4-6 with 27 saves in 70 games. The 30-year-old righty is the Indians' franchise leader with 149 saves.The Angels posted a total of 35 saves last year, ranking 12th in the American League. Blake Parker led the team with 14 saves, wasn't offered a contract after the season and signed with Minnesota.Starters Matt Harvey and Trevor Cahill joined with the Angels earlier in the offseason.Right-hander Miguel Almonte was designated for assignment. Almonte, 25, was 0-0 with a 10.29 ERA in eight games for the Angels last year.

SEATTLE (AP) — The Los Angeles Angels activated two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani from the 10-day disabled list Tuesday and used him as the designated hitter in their game against the Seattle Mariners.Ohtani and his injured right elbow are only cleared to hit for now, but Los Angeles said he will be re-evaluated as a pitcher in three weeks.Ohtani received stem cell therapy and a platelet-rich plasma injection to help heal the Grade 2 sprain of his ulnar collateral ligament suffered more than three weeks ago. Ohtani was cleared for a hitting program Friday and took part in two simulated games against minor league pitchers over the weekend."We're going to see how many looks we can give him as a (designated hitter) and hopefully he'll give us a lift there," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.Ohtani went 0 for 4 in Los Angeles' 4-1 loss to the Mariners.Scioscia said there's no plan in terms of Ohtani's usage, and they'll monitor it daily."He's been cleared to swing and we will see how it all goes... [More]

SEATTLE (AP) — The Angels activated right-handed pitcher/designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (right elbow) from the 10-day disabled list Tuesday and he was the designated hitter in their game against the Seattle Mariners.Ohtani received stem cell therapy and a platelet-rich plasma injection to help heal his Grade 2 sprain of his ulnar collateral ligament suffered more than three weeks ago. Ohtani was cleared for a hitting program on Friday and took part in two simulated games against minor league pitchers over the weekend."We're going to see how many looks we can give him as a (designated hitter) and hopefully he'll give us a lift there," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.Scioscia added that there's no plan in place in terms of Ohtani's usage and they'll monitor it daily."He's been cleared to swing and we will see how it all goes down," Scioscia said. "I check with my players all the time to make sure nothing is bothering them, but we don't anticipate anything as far as him swinging the bat."Ohtani... [More]

SEATTLE (AP) — The Angels activated right-handed pitcher/designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (right elbow) from the 10-day disabled list on Tuesday.Right-handed pitcher Miguel Almonte was also called up and right-handed pitchers Deck McGuire and Eduardo Paredes were optioned to Triple-A in corresponding moves.Ohtani received stem cell therapy and a platelet-rich plasma injection to help heal his Grade 2 sprain of his ulnar collateral ligament suffered more than three weeks ago. Ohtani was cleared for a hitting program on Friday took part in two simulated games against minor-league pitchers over the weekend.Ohtani is hitting .289 with a .907 OPS and six homers in 114 at-bats as a hitter in his rookie season.It's still unclear if Ohtani is capable of returning on the mound this year, but Angels general manager Billy Eppler has expressed the club's desire to utilize his skills as a hitter as the Angels attempt to climb back into the playoff race.___More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball

SURPRISE, Ariz. (AP) — The Royals signed right-handed reliever Justin Grimm to a $1.25 million, one-year deal Sunday that includes up to $300,000 incentives after he was released by the Chicago Cubs last week.The 29-year-old Grimm was 1-2 with a 5.53 ERA in 50 appearances last season.The club also announced that pitchers Miguel Almonte, Sam Gaviglio and Trevor Oaks, catcher Cam Gallagher and infielder Ramon Torres have been optioned to Triple-A Omaha.The roster moves leave the Royals with 46 players in major league camp.___More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball

Almonte (0-1) gave up a game-winning home run in the 11th inning in a 6-5 loss to the Tigers. He also walked a batter and struck out two in his one inning of work.

The rookie reliever has now given up two homers in his brief five-game career, and both have coincidentally been to Ian Kinsler. Almonte is just finding his footing in the majors since his Sept. 1 call-up from Triple-A Omaha, and had turned in three consecutive scoreless appearances prior to Saturday's contest. The hard-throwing right-hander is believed to have a bright future, and has already whiffed seven batters in five major-league frames to date. Almonte is expected to be used in a variety of relief situations for the remainder of the season.

Almonte had his contract purchased from Triple-A Omaha on Tuesday.

Almonte has actually seen his numbers improve a bit since his promotion to Triple-A, but isn't likely to see many high-leverage situations with the big league club. The 22-year-old right hander will most likely be used in long relief in instances where manager Ned Yost doesn't want to overexert his bullpen.

Almonte, 22, has a 4.13 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 28 strikeouts in 24 innings with Triple-A Omaha.

Almonte's 3.32 FIP is a better indicator of how well he has pitched since being promoted to Triple-A earlier this summer. Of the Royals' big three pitching prospects coming into the season, Almonte is the only one who survived the trade deadline, and he now may be called upon to pitch out of the bullpen in September and in the postseason. He currently sits at 91 innings on the season, and has reached around 130 innings in each of the last two seasons, so there should be plenty of bullets left in the chamber for Almonte in 2015.

Almonte has a 2.92 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 31 strikeouts in 37 innings (nine starts) with Double-A Northwest Arkansas.

The electric righty had a 5.00 ERA on May 1 after five starts, but in his last four outings he has given up just two runs over 19 innings. Featuring three pitches that can grade out as plus on the right day, Almonte has the ingredients to be a frontline starter in time. His fastball command can come and go, but it seems he has really settled in at Double-A after a slow start, and promotion to Triple-A could be right around the corner.