With Brantley on the team and the starter in left field, the Indians only needed to make a decision on the fourth outfielder. As expected, they decided on Austin Kearns, and have optioned Trevor Crowe to Columbus.
While Jamey Wright has yet to be officially announced as a member of the opening day bullpen, it is all but a certainty. With him in the pen it left one spot between Jensen Lewis, Saul Rivera and Hector Ambriz. As expected, Lewis won the spot and Rivera will open the season in Columbus. He has an opt out in his contract where if he is not on a big league roster by May 15th he can leave the Indians. Ambriz will open the season on the disabled list with right elbow tendonitis.
In addition to Wright and Kearns, Mark Grudzielanek is expected to make the 25-man roster. We will probably not get an "official" addition to the roster of Wright, Grudz, and Kearns until this weekend, which we will find out then which two additional players were cleared from the 40-man (likely Henderson and Toregas....Ambriz was DLed, so seems he is out of the woods). You don't roster NRI guys like Wright, Grudzielanek, and Kearns until the last day of camp. That way if they somehow get hurt these final few days they haven't DFAed someone who otherwise may have been an option.
Speaking of creating roster room, the Indians designated left-hander Jeremy Sowers for assignment a few days ago. His removal from the 40-man roster will allow them to add one of as many as three non-roster invitees they plan to add to the 40-man (Grudzielanek, Wright, Kearns). Sowers has already cleared waivers and will be sent to Columbus where he likely opens the season on the disabled list there.
Lou Marson is officially the starting catcher as Wyatt Toregas was optioned out to Columbus. Toregas could also soon be a 40-man casualty in order to add one of the non-roster players.
Andy Marte has made the team as the backup at third base and first base.
Last, there were no releases in minor league camp today, though another round (possibly final) of cuts are expected on Thursday or Friday.
I'll update this posting later today once the last rotation spot between David Huff and Carlos Carrasco is announced.
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15 comments:
wow no one wanted sowers? has his stock diminished that much? surely you would think someone would have claimed him...
No surprise really on Sowers. He is hurt, has been largely ineffective in his four year big league career, and other teams are also feeling the roster crunch. Had this happened in Sept/Oct or more into the season, I think he may have been claimed.....but really this was the opportune time to waive him. Plus, as fans, we tend to over value our own.
Seems odd that Wright has not been given a spot when there is no longer anybody in camp to compete with him. Could there be a trade or someone else coming in for a bullpen guy? Maybe a setup man?
You don't roster NRI guys like Wright, Grudzielanek, and Kearns until the last day of camp. That way if they somehow get hurt these final few days they haven't DFAed someone who otherwise may have been an option. So, we will probably not get an "official" addition to the roster of Wright, Grudz, and Kearns until this weekend, which we will find out then which two additional players were cleared (likely Henderson and Toregas....Ambriz was DLed, so seems he is out of the woods).
I was just confused because it seemed like Kearns was told he made the team and Wright was not. Thanks.
Just curious, does Kearns run well? It seems like they don't have a good option to use as a pinch runner late in the game.
He's an okay runner. But there will be some good speed/athleticism in the lineup anyway where really the only guys you would consider running for would be Hafner, Peralta, Marson and LaPorta. Plus a lot of times one of Brantley/Valbuena will be on bench if needed.
What does this mean for Anderson Hernandez if Grudz makes the team???
I thought the Tribe wanted Brantley to either be starting in the majors if not AAA to keep him active. Do you think Branyan will cut into enough AB's that Brantley wont start very often but still get enough that they wouldn't option him to Columbus?
I think Hernandez is the "Henderson" mentioned above.
Llama, Brantley will be starting for the big league team. He will get the lion's share of playing time in left field and will play some center field to give Sizemore a day off when needed. Of course Kearns will mix in there some, but Brantley is clearly the starter. If Brantley's playing time is ever endangered, be it the return of Branyan or Brantley struggles, he will be sent to Columbus where he can play everyday.
Ok, good to know. I've read some analysts over at Yahoo! Say that Brantley isn't long for Cleveland and will be back in AAA as soon as Branyan comes back. Do you see this happening given both LaPorta's and Brantley's spring training performances? What if both are playing very well when Branyan returns?
Sending him back to the minors when they're going to start his arbitration clock anyway would be a huge mistake in my opinion.
Not sure where I got the idea that Brantley would end up riding the pine in Cleveland though.
Gotta be careful with the national writers. In cases like Heyman, Law, etc they have connections with all teams. But, for most, they just regurgitate (sp) what the local beat guys report and make an opinion on it which sometimes can come off as fact. not all the time, but it happens. As for Brantley, he very well could go back to AAA once Branyan returns....but that is a big if. Remember too that LaPorta has to prove 100% healthy.
llama, if Brantley does get sent back down, his "arbitration clock" will stop. It's based on the total amount of days in the majors, not when they were first called up; otherwise Brantley's would have started in September. That's why the entire service time issue is somewhat diminished in importance, in my opinion.
Brian, I agree the arbitration eligibility issue gets overblown , especially for the Indians. They have a good history of locking up the arb-eligible guys that they want to keep. And for Brantley, to delay his super 2 eligibility, he would need to stay down until about the All Star break (or thereabouts). I think the bigger issue would be trying to get the extra year before free agency which would only require him to stay down about 6 weeks.And as you say, Brantley may still go back down at some point this year, who knows?
Tony- I think the Ambriz move is kind of interesting. Instead of offering him back to Ari to open up a 40 man spot, the DL'ed him. They must like him enough to try and keep him around? Or maybe they just think he would be more likely to be lost than either Hernandez or Toregas?
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