The Kansas City Royals have designated right-handed pitcher Joe Blanton for assignment. The move allows the team to place newly-acquired ace Johnny Cueto onto the 25-man roster. 

The 34-year old Blanton had appeared in 15 games for the Royals this season. He started four of them and had 11 relief appearances. Blanton was 2-2 with a 3.89 ERA with one quality start. Coming out of the bullpen, Blanton was solid. He had two saves and a 2.74 ERA. He spent seven games in the Minors with Triple-A Omaha. Blanton was 3-2 with a 3.89 ERA. He signed a Minor League deal back in February with an invitation to Spring Training. He started the season in the Minors with Omaha.

The 11-year veteran was making a comeback after spending the 2014 campaign with the Oakland Athletics' Triple-A affiliate. Blanton is 87-91 in his career, and his ERA is 4.50. He had his best season back in 2007 with the Athletics where he started a career-high 34 games and went 14-12 with his second-lowest ERA in his career.

Back in 2013, though, Blanton was awful for the Los Angeles Angles. He was 2-14 with a 6.04 ERA and averaged two home runs per nine innings.

Blanton was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies back in 2008. In the second half with the Phillies, Blanton was 4-0 with a 4.20 ERA and helped the team win the 2008 World Series. That was about the only highlight of Blanton's career besides ending up sixth in the 2005 Rookie of the Year race.

Blanton could opt to become a free agent this coming offseason, and if he does, he would be looking for the sixth team to play for in his career. Besides the Royals, Athletics, Phillies, and Angles, he has also played for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

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