Blanton was called up by the Royals on Saturday. He will offer the Royals some depth in the bullpen, as a guy who can eat innings, but once Jason Vargas returns from the DL there's a good chance Blanton could be sent back down to Triple-A.

Blanton accepted his assignment to Triple-A Omaha on Tuesday, Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star reports. Blanton came out of retirement to join the Royals' camp in February but was never considered a likely candidate to crack the big league roster by Opening Day. The 34-year-old didn't have a bad spring, posting a 2.79 ERA in 9.2 innings of work, but he'll likely stay with the Triple-A club unless the parent team's pitching staff gets hit with the injury bug.

Blanton has come out of retirement and signed a minor league deal with the Royals, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reports.That was a short retirement. Blanton will almost definitely open the season in Triple-A, considering he would have to beat out Edinson Volquez and Kris Medlen for the fifth starter spot despite not pitching for an entire year. Blanton was also awful in 2013, pitching a 6.04 ERA and 1.613 WHIP. Him returning to the majors would be a cool story, but it's not happening barring a slew of injuries to the Royals' rotation.

CBS Sports' Jon Heyman reports that Joe Blanton has not officially retired. Blanton left the Athletics' Triple-A team after two outings, but he hasn't decided whether he'll give up baseball for good. Regardless, the Angels will pay him the $9.5 million remaining on his contract. The 33-year-old owns an 85-89 record and 4.51 ERA in the majors.

Joe Blanton has retired from professional baseball. The 33-year-old right-hander was released by the Angels at the end of spring training and had been pitching for the A's Triple-A affiliate. He finishes with a career 85-89 record, 4.51 ERA, 1.36 WHIP and 1086/412 K/BB ratio.

Athletics signed RHP Joe Blanton to a minor league contract; assigned him to Triple-A Sacramento. Blanton, a first-round pick of the A's in 2002, was released by the Angels at the end of spring camp after allowing 22 hits and 16 earned runs in 20 1/3 innings. He's doubtful to make a positive impact for Oakland.

Angels released RHP Joe Blanton. Blanton did little to make a case for a rotation spot, so it was just a matter of whether the Angels were willing to eat his remaining salary to let him go. Ultimately, they were. The Angels will absorb his $7.5 million salary for this season and a $1 million buyout on his 2015 option to cut him loose. He'll surely get an opportunity elsewhere now that he can be had at the major league minimum, but we're not expecting much.

Joe Blanton allowed four runs, walking four, over 4 1/3 innings against the Brewers on Saturday. Blanton gave up a leadoff home run to Carlos Gomez, and things didn't get much better from there. He finished allowing six hits and four walks while striking out three. In his bid to make the Angels' rotation, the right-hander now has a 7.08 ERA this spring.

Joe Blanton had mixed results against the Cubs in Monday's start, surrendering three runs in 5 1/3 innings. Blanton only allowed four hits and walked two while striking out one. The right-hander changed his delivery prior to his start on Wednesday, but it may not be enough to slide into the back of the Angels' rotation.

Joe Blanton pitched well in Wednesday's start against the Rangers, holding them scoreless over five innings. Blanton allowed only one hit and struck out five. It's a remarkable improvement over his previous two Cactus League appearances in which he allowed nine runs in 5 2/3 innings. Blanton is still fighting for a spot at the back of the Angels' rotation but his chances aren't great. The Angels could still trade or release him by the end of spring training.