Jeff Larish CAREER TRACKER

Peralta here, Frazier up, Larish and Sizemore down
BECK'S BLOG
Posted on July 29, 2010 at 4:05 PM

By now you already know Jhonny Peralta was in uniform soon after first pitch at Tropicana Field, and Scott Sizemore was optioned to Triple-A Toledo to make room. After the game came word that the Tigers swapped bench bats, designating Jeff Larish for assignment and purchasing the contract of Jeff Frazier from the Mud Hens.

Frazier is batting .273 in Toledo with 32 doubles, 23 home runs and 68 RBIs in 104 games. Eight of those home runs have come in July, including a two-homer game Wednesday against Pawtucket. It's a good story for Frazier, a former Tigers draft pick who left and came back via trade a few years ago and was hoping his numbers to get him a call-up this season, as John Wagner chronicled in The Blade this morning.

The big plus for Frazier that helped get him the call is the fact that he's a right-handed power bat. With Damon and Boesch and Kelly, the Tigers had enough left-handed bats available in the outfield, but kind of a shortage from the right side now that Raburn is pretty much playing close to every day. Detroit will face left-hander Jon Lester Friday night and then is on track to fellow lefties John Danks and Mark Buehrle next week.

Larish was out of minor league options, so they had to designate him. If he passes through waivers, the Tigers will be able to outright him to Toledo.

A's claim Larish off waivers
BECK'S BLOG
Posted on August 3, 2010 at 2:50 PM

Jeff Larish won't be headed back to the Hens. Instead, he's headed out west to the A's, who claimed the slugging corner infielder off waivers Tuesday.

Larish cleared waivers when the Tigers took him off the 40-man roster in the offseason, but that was then. The Tigers tried to get him through waivers this weekend when they designated him for assignment to add Jeff Frazier to the roster. Had Larish gotten through, he would've had the right to decline the Tigers' outright assignment and elect free agency, which would've been an interesting decision.

The 27-year-old Larish went 2-for-10 with four strikeouts in his brief stint with the Tigers last week. Before that, he was batting .275 at Triple-A Toledo with 21 doubles, 15 homers and 55 RBIs in 84 games.

The loss further whittles down the roster for the Mud Hens, who lost Wilkin Ramirez on Saturday to a trade and Jeff Frazier to a call-up on Friday. Ryan Strieby left Sunday's game with a wrist injury and didn't play Monday. Andy Dirks was promoted from Double-A Erie, prompting the Brandon Jones trade.

As Jim Leyland said on Sunday, "We're running out of farm system."

Gabe Gross, Jeff Larish Declare Free Agency

By Mike Axisa [October 30, 2010 at 2:46pm CST]


Outfielder Gabe Gross and infielder Jeff Larish declared free agency after being outrighted off the Athletics' 40-man roster according to a team press release. Righthanders Jon Meloan and Justin Souza were also outrighted, but remain in the organization.

Gross, 31, hit just .239/.290/.311 in 243 plate appearances this year after signing a one-year, $750K deal last offseason. Despite the down year, Gross said he would return to the A's in 2011 "with bells on." Larish, 28, was claimed off waivers from the Tigers in August and hit .175/.277/.333 in 65 plate appearances with Oakland.

Neither Meloan nor Souza appeared in the big leagues this year. The former didn't pitch at all due to Tommy John surgery, the latter managed a 4.33 ERA with 8.3 K/9 and 4.8 BB/9 in 49 relief innings, mostly at the Double-A level level.

The Phillies signed Jeff Larish to a minor league deal, according to MLB.com's Todd Zolecki (on Twitter). The 28-year-old batted .179/.267/.313 in 75 plate appearances for the Tigers and A's in 2010. He has played first, third and left field in his three-year MLB career.