Cleveland Indians send nine players to minors camp

On Monday, the Cleveland Indians started to trim down the roster as they sent nine players down to the minor leagues to start the season. What does that mean for these players in 2018?

The Indians have begun the difficult process of deciding which players to option to the minors. Nine players from Indians camp were optioned to the minor leagues; cutting the Tribe’s roster to 50 players.

Abraham Almonte, Francisco Mejia, Shawn Morimondo, Julian Merryweather, and Adam Plutko were all optioned to AAA Columbus while Bobby Bradley, Adam Wilk, Louis Head, and Josh Martin were also optioned to the minors.

Obviously the biggest two names are Almonte and Mejia. Almonte has seen action in the majors for parts of the last three seasons. He found himself in a tough competition this spring in what could be a crowded outfield situation for the Tribe. Rajai Davis, Melvin Upton Jr. and Greg Allen have all outperformed Almonte. Abe was batting .174 with only one extra base hit, meaning only Brandon Barnes was batting worse among players with over 10 at-bats.

As for Mejia, the Cleveland Indians have two good catchers in Yan Gomes and Roberto Perez. There is just no place behind the plate for the Tribe’s top prospect. Mejia will likely work on playing other positions with Columbus. His bat is one that the Indians could use down the road especially if injury strikes. He will likely see time at 3B or in the outfield should he come back to the majors. Mejia’s slash line was .421/.450/.842; his slugging stood out the most. That said, Gomes and Perez still were slugging better.

Smaller cuts made

Plutko only made 2 appearances for the Tribe and Merryweather underwent Tommy John surgery last week. Morimondo, Wilk, and Martin all played in less than five games this spring. Chase Head had an ERA of 9.95 ERA in six appearances this spring which is anything but good.

As for Bradley, he could see time in both AA and AAA this season after posting good numbers this spring.

Next: The current and future state of the payroll

There are plenty more cuts to be made before March 29th. But for us fans it just means Opening Day is almost here.