Blue Jays claim Tommy Hottovy, designate Chad Beck for assignment

The Toronto Blue Jays have claimed left-hander Tommy Hottovy off of waivers from the Texas Rangers and designated right-hander Chad Beck for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster, the team has announced.

Hottovy, 31, was traded to the Rangers from the Kansas City Royals in mid-November. The Rangers had designated him for assignment earlier this week to make room for new designated hitter Lance Berkman.

The southpaw has only 13⅓ innings of big-league experience to his name -- all coming in the last two years -- posting a 4.05 ERA and an even K/BB ratio in that brief span. Hottovy spent the majority of 2012 at Triple-A, where he put up an impressive 2.52 ERA and 11.0 K/9 rate in 50 innings.

Beck, 27, has only a few more big-league innings under his belt than Hotttovy. The right-hander threw 18 innings in relief for the Blue Jays over the last two seasons, amassing a 5.50 ERA and 6.0 K/9 rate.

T.R. Sullivan speculates that the Blue Jays may be adding Hottovy -- a left-handed relief option -- as insurance in the event that veteran southpaw Darren Oliver elects to retire rather than return for the 2013 season.