Assuming that Rotoworld has things correct, they reported this morning that despite clearing waivers, the Cincinnati Reds have given Ryan LaMarre his outright release rather than sending him back to the minors.
LaMarre was on the Triple-A Louisville disabled list when he was designated for assignment and hadn’t played in a game since late May. He had struggled this season for the Bats, hitting just .200/.310/.300, though it was just 15 games worth of playing time after two stints on the disabled list during the season. After a slow start in 2013 he finished strong, hitting .281/.351/.459 over his final 254 plate appearances that were mostly in Double-A, though there was a short late-season call up to Triple-A to finish the year.
The former second round pick has had his career rattled with injuries, though he has played through some of them over the years. His outright release is surprising, given that he does seem to have a profile to fit well as a 4th/5th outfielder when he is healthy. The Reds 40-man roster is getting awfully heavy though and spots are tough to come by and this offseason when players need to be protected from the Rule 5 draft, there will be even tougher decisions to be made on who stays and who goes, so this may have just been the first shoe to drop on that front.