As first reported by Terez Paylor of the Kansas City Star, the Royals have claimed hard-throwing right-handed reliever Maikel Cleto off waivers from the Cardinals and designated outfielder Quintin Berry for assignment to open up a spot on the 40-man roster.
Cleto, a 24-year-old native of the Dominican Republic, was traded from the Mariners to the Cardinals back in December 2010 in exchange for shortstop Brendan Ryan. Featuring a fastball that can sometimes reach triple digits, he struck out 26 batters in his 15 2/3 total innings with St. Louis. But he also yielded a total of seven walks, 25 hits and 18 earned runs for a hideous 2.04 WHIP and 10.34 ERA.
Berry, a former member of the Tigers, was batting .194/.265/.290 this year at Triple-A Omaha.
