Lyle Overbay Designated For Assignment

In the move to make room for the newly acquired Chris Johnson, veteran First Baseman Lyle Overbay has been designated for assignment by the Diamondbacks, likely ending his second stint with the team. Overbay was batting .292/.367/.448 in limited playing time backing up Paul Goldschmidt this season, but had recently been suffering through a 2 for 25 slump since June 23rd. As you may recall, he was signed as an injury replacement last season, and re-upped with the D'Backs last December for one year and $1MM.

Overbay was drafted by the D'Backs in the 18th round in 1999, and played on the big club from 2001-2003. He was sent to Milwaukee as part of the ill-fated Richie Sexson trade. He also made stops in Toronto and Pittsburgh before rejoining the D'Backs last year.

This move reaffirms Paul Goldschmidt's death grip on the starting first base job. It would also seem to suggest that Ryan Wheeler will be making the occasional start to spell Goldschmidt at first, as he played a decent amount of it in the minors.