Oliver did not made Philadelphia's 25-man roster and elected free agency rather than accept an assignment to the minors, MLB.com reports. Oliver was selected from the Pirates in the Rule 5 draft and will now try to catch on with another club.

Oliver has a good chance to make the Phillies' Opening Day roster as a reliever, the team's official site reports. Oliver, who was selected from the Pirates in the Rule 5 draft this offseason, will get a long look this spring. He was 3-4 with a 2.53 ERA in 48 appearances at Triple-A last season.

The Phillies selected Oliver with the 14th pick in Thursday's Rule 5 draft. The 27-year-old seemed to find his niche in the bullpen last season. In 48 appearances with the Pirates' Triple-A Indianapolis affiliate, Oliver posted a 2.53 ERA, 1.28 WHIP and 12.0 K/9, with a .129 BAA against opposing lefties. Control has been a major issue for Oliver in his five minor league seasons (5.8 BB/9), but a specialist role in 2015 is well within the realm of possibility.

Pirates sent LHP Andy Oliver outright to Triple-A Indianapolis. Oliver, 26, posted a 4.05 ERA, 1.70 WHIP and 138/112 K/BB ratio over 124 1/3 innings at Triple-A last season. A former second-round pick of the Tigers, Oliver will serve as organizational depth for the Pirates if he isn't picked up by another team.

Pirates optioned LHP Andy Oliver and C Tony Sanchez to Triple-A Indianapolis. Neither cut is a surprise. Oliver is an option for a potential spot start down the line or possibly bullpen duty. It will take an injury for Sanchez to get a shot.

Pirates acquired LHP Andy Oliver from the Tigers for C Ramon Cabrera. Oliver was a second-round pick in 2009 and was once considered a fairly promising prospect. But he posted a 7.11 ERA and 1.83 WHIP in seven total starts between 2010 and 2011 with the Tigers and struggled this past year in the minor leagues. Perhaps the change of scenery will give his career a nice boost.

The Tigers plan to have left-hander Andy Oliver pitch out of the bullpen during spring training. Oliver was a candidate for the fifth starter job during spring training this past season, but the Tigers were impressed with what they saw when he was moved to a relief role with Triple-A Toledo later in the year. "We liked what he did out of the bullpen," said Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski. "Some of our people still think he should start, but I would say coming into spring training based upon how we're set up right now he would come in as a bullpen guy." The hard-throwing 25-year-old has battled control problems during his career, but he could contend for a roster spot as a second left-hander behind Phil Coke.

The Tigers have shifted Andy Oliver to the bullpen at Triple-A Toledo. Oliver went 4-9 with a 5.18 ERA as a starter on the farm before hitting the disabled list prior to the All-Star break. That's all Detroit needed to see. "He's been out for a while," Detroit Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski said. "He's healthy. We weren't going to have a good time to stretch him out. The second thing is, we have often wondered how he would do in the bullpen ourselves, so we just figured it's a good time to make the transition for the rest of the year, see how it goes and take it from there." Oliver could be a September call-up, but he won't be fantasy relevant this season.

The Tigers haven't decided on a replacement for Doug Fister (side) but will watch Andy Oliver pitch on Sunday and Casey Crosby on Monday for Triple-A Toledo. It sounds like they might be leaning towards bringing someone up from the minors rather than pulling Duane Below out of the bullpen. Oliver, Crosby and Below lost out on the No. 5 starter competition to Drew Smyly.

Tigers optioned LHP Andy Oliver to Triple-A Toledo. The move means that Drew Smyly and Duane Below are the two men left standing for the final spot in the starting rotation. Oliver entered spring training with a shot, but struggled with his control and gave up six runs over just three innings against the Astros on Tuesday. The 24-year-old southpaw still has a promising future, but he needs more seasoning in the minors.