The Indians announced March 26 that reliever Joba Chamberlain has made the club. They also announced pitcher Austin Adams, outfielder Joey Butler, infielder Erik Gonzalez and third baseman Giovanny Urshela were optioned to Columbus.
Catcher Adam Moore was reassigned to minor league camp and lefty Tom Gorzelanny was informed he would not make Opening Day roster.
Chamberlain, 30, who was a non-roster invitee to spring training, made the most of the opportunity to revitalize his career after he pitched for Detroit and Kansas City in 2015. The 2016 season will mark his 10th in the Majors. He has appeared in 8 games so far this spring for the Indians and posted a 3.38 ERA and 7 strikeouts in 8 innings of work.
With Cody Allen as the closer and Bryan Shaw as the setup man, Chamberlain likely assumes a role similar to Zach McAllister as a guy who can come in during the 6th, 7th or 8th inning and pitch for an inning or two or just to get out a tough right-handed batter.
The option of Butler to Triple-A is a mild surprise, although not completely unexpected as he had one remaining minor league option available. The decision became easier as the 30-year-old hasn’t had a good spring hitting just 7 hits in 34 at-bats (.207 average) and two home runs.
However, there is some uncertainty in the outfield with Michael Brantley and perhaps Lonnie Chisenhall opening the season on the disabled list. That could mean Rajai Davis, Tyler Naquin and Marlon Byrd open the season as the starting outfield. Collin Cowgill is an option as the backup at all three positions or perhaps Robbie Grossman and/or Will Venable could make the squad . Utility man Jose Ramirez also provides depth in the outfield.
Demotions of Adams, Gonzalez and Urshela aren’t really surprises because the Tribe has depth at these positions and each still had the option to the minors available. It’s likely Adams will be back with the Indians at some point soon as he was the guy who last year shuttled between Columbus and Cleveland whenever roster moves were needed among the pitching staff.
It also likely won’t be long before Urshela is promoted as the Indians signed Juan Uribe in the offseason as a stop-gap to give Urshela more time to hone in his offensive skills in a less-pressure role.
Despite a decent spring, the cut of Gorzelanny, 33, is likely due to a numbers crunch and because Kyle Crockett and Ross Detwiler are contending for either one or two lefty bullpen positions.
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