Greeley native Shawn Chacon took another step in his climb back to the major leagues Thursday, signing a minor-league contract with the Athletics, according to his agent.
Agent Danny Horwits said Chacon will report to Oakland’s Triple-A affiliate in Sacramento, Calif., and is tentatively scheduled to start today.
Chacon has been out of baseball since last summer when he got into a physical altercation with Astros general manager Ed Wade.
Chacon this season was 3-3 with a 4.29 ERA with the independent-league Newark (N.J.) Bears. The 31-year-old right-hander won 24 games for the Rockies from 2001-05, making the NL all-star team in 2003. He was traded to the Yankees in 2005, helping them to the playoffs.Ibañez sidelined.
Phillies left fielder Raul Ibañez, who ranks second in the NL in homers (22) and RBIs (59), went on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left groin. John Mayberry Jr. was recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley (Pa.).
Footnotes.
Padres right-hander Chris Young is expected to be placed on the 15-day DL today because of inflammation in his pitching shoulder.
• The Tigers altered their rotation and the middle of their lineup, placing left-hander Dontrelle Willis on the DL with an anxiety disorder and benching slumping slugger Magglio Ordoñez indefinitely.
• Dusty Rhodes, who helped the Giants win their last World Series title in 1954, died of cardiopulmonary arrest in Las Vegas. He was 82. The Associated Press
— Troy E. Renck
