BRADENTON, Fla. — The Pittsburgh Pirates have claimed third baseman Brent Morel off waivers from the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Pirates made the move Monday. They designated for assignment infielder Chase d'Arnaud to make room on the 40-man roster for Morel.

Morel was designated for assignment Friday. The Blue Jays had claimed Morel from the Chicago White Sox in December.

Twenty-seven in April, Morel has a .229 average with 13 homers and 54 RBIs in parts of four seasons with the Chicago White Sox. He played 12 big league games last year.

SARASOTA, Fla. — Outfielder Nelson Cruz and the Baltimore Orioles finalized an $8 million, one-year contract, a deal that puts him on track to become the team's regular designated hitter.The 33-year-old, who served a 50-game suspension last year for violating baseball's drug agreement, can earn an additional $750,000 in bonuses based on days on the active 25-man roster: $150,000 each for 60, 90, 120, 150 and180.He turned down a $14.1 million qualifying offer from the Texas Rangers in November. Because of the qualifying offer, Baltimore forfeits its second-round selection in June's amateur draft, the 55th pick overall.

SURPRISE, Ariz. — Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington finally has a contract past this season.After a busy offseason in which they added Prince Fielder and Shin-Soo Choo to their lineup, and more than a week into spring training, the Rangers added a year to Washington's contract through the 2015 season.Washington is the team's winningest manager with 611 wins over seven seasons, and led Texas to its only two World Series. - See more at: