Jeremy Bonderman was sent into DFA exile to make room for Lucas Luetge to shore up the MLB pen.

Leaving a space in the rotation for ...

Well, they aren't saying.  But they are saying that Bondo was moved not because he was hopelessly mediocre [though he predictably was], but because of "who's coming."

We all love Erasmo Ramirez, but would Wedge talk this way about e-RAM?

• "It's really more about who's coming versus that," Wedge answered [in terms of not giving Bondo more time].  I think when you talk about Bondo I think you really have to appreciate his effort and what he has done to get back to what he's done to get back to where he is. We still feel like there is more work to be done but again, it is more about who we are bringing up."

E-RAM was "up" much of last year.  Would his return to the majors really weigh that much on Wedge's mind?

In other words ... the tea leaves indicate: Walker, Seattle Mariner NOT Texas Ranger!

But only after he pitches in the Futures Game on Saturday in the Big Apple, and gets slotted into his proper rotation day.  After doing his demolition job on AAA in three tries, it's certainly Taijuan Time anyway.

Then again, maybe we're wrong.  And e-RAM has earned his chance to get back to the big club as well. 

***

Was Bondo worth it?  Not really, but our pal Vinnie Catricala is still trying to get on track at AA (.225/.314/.337 in the Oakland organization), and he was bound to get flushed out of the pipeline eventually.

AAA -- Tacoma 7, Tucson 0  -- Box

I'm gonna spotlight three guys who made big progress in 2012, but have been a little bit stuck in neutral in 2013.

James Paxton (Talk40 #3) ended last season on an incredible roll, and seemed to "click" with Mike Zunino (Talk40 #1) in a "beautiful friendship" that Bat and I discussed back then.

But this season, we've mostly seen "Puzzling Pax" who struggles to make it through five innings with high pitch counts.

Monday night was not one of those nights:

9.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K

A complete game ... on 104 pitches!  Did it help that he didn't have a high strikeout rate?  Does he try too hard in his high-pitch-count games to get just the right strikeout pitch?  Could be.

Of course, many folks have pointed to mechanical issues that seem to contribute to the inconsistency.

"Late 2012 Paxton" is a true gem, and we need a gemologist and find it and polish it up.  Given the way things are setting up, Paxton will probably be getting more time in AAA to figure it out.

***

And, though I was not really part of the bandwagon myself, Stefen Romero (Talk40 #11) impressed a lot of folks last year after blasting through High Desert and carrying it on to AA Jackson.

With the infield pretty full, he was looked at this year as a future corner outfielder, and he's been pretty much exclusively a left fielder at Tacoma.

I had reasons for skepticism, and it seemed to be bearing out as he struggled along with a sub-.800 OPS.  Not good enough to be a big-bat corner OF in the majors.

But when the calendar flipped to July, he started to heat up.  He has 15 hits in his last eight games, including Grand Salami Time! Monday night (plus two singles and a walk).  His OPS is now up to .814.  He still needs to get his ISO up closer to .200 (it's .152 right now) to be the guy we want him to be, but he seems to be getting on track (he did only have half a season at AA before moving up to Tacoma).

AA -- Jackson 3, Pensacola 2  -- Box

And one name that has gone almost completely un-mentioned in 2013 is Romero's fellow collegiate-Oregonian Jack Marder (Talk40 #17) [Romero: Beaver; Marder: Duck].

After netting "Craig Biggio" mentions last year as an unusual second-baseman/catcher/leadoff hitter combo, Marder has pretty much fallen off the 2013 map at Jackson.

He's been hitting under .200 with nary a hint of the High Desert-driven ISO that he displayed last year.  And he's only played catcher once.  He's been playing more third and left ... positions where his bat is even less likely to hold up.

So here's the definition of "stock falling," unfortunately.

Monday, though, Marder got his second home run of the season, and he has six hits in his last four games.

Maybe he can avoid a "Catricala catastrophe," but he'll have to keep it going.