Rick Ankiel Called Up!

Usatoday.com is reporting Rick Ankiel has been called up to the big league team and will be in uniform tonight (Thursday's game against San Diego). Reports have him scheduled to start in right field and hit second. No roster move to make room for Ankiel has been announced - yet - although Spiezio has been battling yet another odd sickness that could land him on the DL to rest and fully recover (he's had a tough year). I can't WAIT to see the home crowd's reaction when Rick comes to the plate for his first at-bat!

UPDATE! To make room for Ankiel, the team announced Scott Spiezio has been placed on MLB's Restricted List. From what I can tell, this is sometimes referred to as the "reserves list" as well. Players on this list are not paid and do not count against a team's 25-man roster count. However, it seems odd because all I've read (which is not much) seems to suggest placement on this list has a negative connotation.

Considering Spiezio's odd illness recently, this move is most likely a way to make room for Ankiel by removing an unavailable player from the roster without making him unavailable for the full 15 days (result of placing a player on the DL). It buys the team time to see how Spiezio's illness will develop and still bring Ankiel up. Still, Scott can't be happy about not being paid. Wonder if the team is making special arrangements to pay him while on the list...hmmmm...interesting. The report I read said the team offered no explanation for Spiezio's move.