In order to make room on their 40 man roster for Trot Nixon, the Cleveland Indians have designed righthander Jeremy Guthrie for assignment.
A little ironic that Guthrie has been designated the same week as Drew Meyer, since Guthrie, like Meyer, was a 2002 first round pick. There was some speculation that the Rangers would grab Guthrie, who at 23 was a little older than most draft picks (he had spent two years on a Mormon mission), was thought to be close to the majors, and was represented by Scott Boras.
The Boras factor resulted in Guthrie sliding to the Indians, and after early success in the low minors, Guthrie flamed out at the higher levels, hitting a wall at AAA. The Indians moved him into a relief role to try to salvage something out of him, but to no avail.
Guthrie is out of options, so if someone wants to trade for him or claim him on waivers, they'll have to plan on keeping him in the bullpen, or else try to slide him through waivers at the end of spring training. I imagine a team like Tampa Bay would find it worthwhile to take a flyer on Guthrie.