Orioles To Designate Clay Rapada For Assignment

The Orioles will designate Clay Rapada for assignment to create roster space for Alfredo Simon, according to Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun (on Twitter). The Orioles will open up a 40-man roster spot once they officially activate Simon from the 15-day disabled list and remove Rapada from the roster. Baltimore signed Rapada to a minor league deal in January, a few months after the Rangers released him. The 30-year-old lefty appeared in 22 games for the Orioles (12 1/3 innings) and posted a 7.30 ERA with 9.5 K/9 and 4.4 BB/9. Rapada has thrown his slider 43.8% of the time this year a mark that only 11 pitchers have surpassed so far in 2011 (minimum 10 IP).