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Twins Designate Gregorio Petit

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The Twins have designated infielder Gregorio Petit for assignment, per a club announcement. His roster spot was needed for the signing of reliever Matt Belisle, which is now official.

Petit, 33, has seen scattered MLB action in six seasons. He had appeared in a dozen games this year, logging eight singles and four walks in thirty trips to the plate.

During his time as a professional, Petit has mostly appeared at shortstop. But he has ample experience at second and third base as well, and has also appeared in the corner outfield.

Twins To Sign Matt Belisle

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10:13am: It’s a MLB deal for Belisle, per LaVelle E. Neal III of the Star-Tribune (via Twitter), so the club will have some other roster maneuvering to make way for the addition.

9:37am: Veteran righty Matt Belisle will remain in the American League Central after being released by the Indians, with reports indicating he’ll join the Twins. Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press tweeted the connection, with Jon Heyman of Fan Rag tweeting an agreement is indeed in place.

Details of the new arrangement are not yet known. The Twins’ bullpen has not exactly dominated, but also does not have glaring weaknesses in its middle-relief ranks, so it’s not immediately clear whether and when Belisle will get a shot at returning to the majors.

Belisle, who’s now 38 years of age, spent the 2017 season with the Minnesota organization, so he’s certainly a familiar face. Indeed, he even recorded nine saves for the team last year. That was part of a remarkable mid-season turn for the veteran, who carried a miserable 8.59 ERA through 22 innings but worked to a 1.41 ERA with 36 strikeouts against eight walks over his final 38 1/3 frames on the year.

Despite that strong finish, Belisle settled for a minor-league deal and had to battle for a job with the Cleveland organization in camp. He cracked the roster, but managed only four strikeouts while allowing six earned runs in 10 1/3 innings to begin the season. After being released and re-signed, Belisle has been more effective at Triple-A, but evidently did not show enough to interest the Indians in keeping him.

Indians Release Matt Belisle

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The Indians’ top affiliate has announced that righty Matt Belisle was given his unconditional release. He had been pitching with the Columbus Clippers since signing a minors deal in mid-May.

Belisle, who just turned 38, had opened the season in the MLB pen for the Indians after turning in a solid overall effort last year with the Twins. He was designated for assignment just over a month into the season, though, after surrendering six earned runs on nine hits in 10 1/3 innings.

In some regards, Belisle has produced similar results in an identical number of frames since reporting to Triple-A. While he has surrendered five earned on ten hits, though, the underlying numbers are much more promising. After managing only four strikeouts during his time in the majors this year, Belisle has recorded an 11:1 K/BB mix for Columbus.

It is not immediately clear whether Belisle had an opt-out opportunity or otherwise requested his release. Based only upon his recent track record and showing, however, it seems reasonable to guess he’ll land in a spot where he’ll have a clear chance at returning to the majors.

Indians Re-Sign Matt Belisle

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The Indians have announced that righty Matt Belisle is re-joining the organization on a minor-league deal. He’ll begin his tenure at Triple-A.

It seems that Belisle was not able to find a better opportunity with another club. He opened the year on Cleveland’s active roster after winning a job in camp, but was designated for assignment two weeks ago and thereafter elected free agency.

Bullpen depth has been an ongoing problem for the Indians, so it’s not surprising to see this move. The club also had an opening at Triple-A after promoting Neil Ramirez to the MLB roster.

Belisle, who’s closing in on his 38th birthday, had a solid 2017 campaign — in particular, he finished on an excellent run — but was not overly impressive out of the gates this year. In his 10 1/3 innings, he allowed six earned runs on nine hits and a walk. Belisle compiled just four strikeouts in that span, though he did maintain a swinging-strike rate of 9.8% that falls in line with his prior levels.

Indians Outright Jeff Beliveau; Matt Belisle Elects Free Agency

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The Indians have announced the resolutions for two pitchers who were recently designated for assignment. Lefty Jeff Beliveau will remain in the organization after being outrighted, while right-hander Matt Belisle has chosen free agency after he cleared waivers.

Beliveau has the right to take a trip onto the open market, having previously been outrighted off of a 40-man roster. But he’ll instead stay with Cleveland and hope for another opportunity to open there.

Though he was knocked around during his brief time in the majors this year, Beliveau is at least a useful depth piece for a relief staff that has endured some early challenges. He also turned in an eye-opening 8 2/3 inning stint at Triple-A to open the season, with a 14:1 K/BB ratio and just two hits on his ledger.

It seems Belisle will seek better fortunes elsewhere. The 37-year-old has surrendered six earned runs in 10 1/3 innings to open the year, with just one walk but also only four strikeouts. He has appeared in 15 MLB campaigns, working to a cumulative 4.20 ERA in 905 total frames.

Indians Designate Matt Belisle

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The Indians have designated righty Matt Belisle for assignment, as MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian reports on Twitter. He’ll be replaced on the active roster by fellow right-hander Ben Taylor.

Belisle, 37, cracked the Indians’ Opening Day roster but has not impressed out of the gates. He has allowed six earned runs and managed just four strikeouts in his 10 1/3 innings of work though he has maintained his typical fastball velocity (91 mph) and swinging-strike rate (9.8%).

It is not known whether the veteran hurler signed an advanced consent clause, but if so, the organization may simply have decided to cut him loose rather than promising him a salary for the remainder of the season. Belisle’s minors deal called for him to earn at a $1.5MM rate with up to $1.75MM in incentives.

As for Taylor, he was claimed off waivers from the Red Sox during camp. The 26-year-old has turned in an eye-opening start to the season at Triple-A. Through 10 1/3 frames, he has recorded 16 strikeouts against a single walk while generating grounders on nearly half of the balls put in play against him.

Indians Designate Abraham Almonte, Ben Taylor

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The Indians have designated outfielder Abraham Almonte and right-hander Ben Taylor for assignment in order to clear roster spots for veterans Matt Belisle and Rajai Davis, whose contracts have been selected from Triple-A Columbus. Michael Brantley, Giovanny Urshela, Danny Salazar and Ryan Merritt will open the season on the 10-day disabled list.

Davis will return for a second tour of duty in Cleveland, where he’s already established himself in Indians lore thanks to his dramatic Game 7 home run off Aroldis Chapman in the 2016 World Series. Davis paced the AL with 43 steals for Cleveland that season, and he racked up 29 steals with just 366 plate appearances between the A’s and Red Sox last season. Now 37 years of age, he’ll give the Indians plenty of speed off the bench and an established bat against left-handed pitching.

Belisle, meanwhile, gives manager Terry Francona a veteran bullpen arm that struggled early in the 2017 campaign with the Twins but rebounded to dominate over the season’s final four months. Over his final 38 1/3 innings last year, Belisle worked to a 1.41 ERA with a terrific 36-to-8 K/BB ratio and just four homers allowed. Following the trade of Brandon Kintzler to the Nationals, Belisle picked up nine saves as the closer in Minnesota.

Almonte, 28, was on the outside looking in for a Cleveland outfield mix that features Bradley Zimmer, Tyler Naquin, Lonnie Chisenhall, Brandon Guyer, Davis and, once he’s healthy, Brantley. The switch-hitting Almonte had a strong half-season showing for the Tribe in 2015 but missed half the 2016 campaign due to an 80-game PED suspension and hit just .249/.304/.384 in 389 plate appearances from 2016-17.

The 26-year-old Taylor was a seventh-round pick of the Red Sox in 2015. He saw his first major league action last season and tossed 17 1/3 innings of 5.19 ERA, notching 9.35 K/9, 4.67 BB/9 and a paltry 26.4 percent ground-ball rate along the way. Taylor was more successful in his Triple-A debut in 2017, albeit over an even smaller sample (13 1/3 frames), as he worked to a 2.70 ERA with 8.1 K/9, 3.38 BB/9 and a 45.5 percent grounder mark.

Indians To Add Rajai Davis To MLB Roster; Mike Napoli Will Go To Triple-A

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SUNDAY: Napoli will report to the Indians’ Triple-A affiliate, Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com tweets.

THURSDAY: Indians skipper Terry Francona ran through a laundry list of roster moves today, as MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian reports in a series of tweets. Of particular note, the club intends to add outfielder Rajai Davis to the active roster for the start of the season and has released first baseman Mike Napoli, with expectations of re-signing him if he cannot find a MLB opportunity elsewhere.

Davis’s minor-league deal included an opt-out opportunity today, so it’s no surprise to see a decision come down. He’ll be slated to earn a $1.75MM salary with another $3.25MM possible through incentives.

The 37-year-old did not hit much this spring but obviously left a positive impression on the organization, which is plenty familiar with him from his 2016 run in Cleveland. Presumably, Davis will supplement youngster Bradley Zimmer in center while also seeing some time in the corners and functioning as a pinch-runner.

As for the 36-year-old Napoli, he’s slated to re-sign with the Indians on a new minor-league deal unless he finds a job elsewhere. Unless the market is suddenly more welcoming than it was just a few weeks back, he’ll presumably end up joining the Indians’ top affiliate to begin the season.

There were some other roster calls made or at least addressed today, as Bastian further details. Veteran righty Alexi Ogando won’t make the MLB team but will return to rotation duties at Triple-A. Fellow non-roster relievers Matt Belisle and Carlos Torres are still awaiting their fates, which will be decided by Article XX(B) bonus decision day (this coming Saturday).

Indians Sign Matt Belisle

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9:06am: Belisle will earn a $1.5MM salary with a chance for more via incentives if he makes the Indians, Jon Heyman of FanRag tweets. There are $1.75MM in bonuses, Buster Olney of ESPN adds (via Twitter).

7:39am: The Indians have agreed to a minor league contract with reliever Matt Belisle, Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press reports. The deal includes an invitation to big league camp.

The 37-year-old Belisle spent last season with Minnesota, one of the Indians’ AL Central rivals, and emerged as the Twins’ closer after they traded Brandon Kintzler in July. In all, the right-handed Belisle pitched to a 4.03 ERA, posted 8.06 K/9 against 3.28 BB/9 and recorded nine saves over 60 1/3 innings.

While Belisle only induced ground balls at a 40.7 percent clip, he made up for it with a 15.6 percent infield fly rate – the 17th-best figure among qualified relievers and a significantly higher number than his career mark (7 percent). And even though Belisle’s velocity dropped from the low-90s to the high-80s as the season progressed, he was far more effective in the second half of the year (1.71 ERA, 3.08 FIP across 26 1/3 innings) than the first (5.82 ERA, 4.83 FIP over 34 frames). Belisle helped his cause by stifling both same-handed hitters (.243/.319/.377) and lefty-swingers (.160/.244/.351).

Since debuting in the majors in 2003, Belisle has fared similarly against righties (.278/.322/.420) and lefties (.266/.333/.422), and has registered a 4.19 ERA, 6.9 K/9, 2.28 BB/9 and a 46.9 percent grounder rate across 894 1/3 innings. Also a former Red, Rockie, Cardinal and National, he’ll now attempt to join an Indians bullpen that was among the game’s elite in 2017. The Indians have since lost righties Bryan Shaw and Joe Smith to free agency, but Cody Allen, Andrew Miller, Zach McAllister, Dan Otero, Nick Goody and Tyler Olson remain on hand in a still-impressive group.

AL Central Notes: LoMo, Kinsler, Tigers, Greene, Darvish, Twins, Shaw

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If the Indians can’t re-sign Carlos Santana, Logan Morrison is on the team’s list of fallback options, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports (via Twitter).  Morrison is coming off a career year and would require a solid multi-year commitment, though he would come with a lower price tag than the most established Santana.  The Angels and Red Sox were rumored to have interest in Morrison earlier this winter.

Some more AL Central items…

  • The Ian Kinsler trade talks have reached the point where the Tigers have exchanged names with interested teams, GM Al Avila told reporters (including Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press and MLive.com’s Evan Woodbery).  Kinsler has been seen as one of the likeliest players to be dealt this offseason, and it seems like a trade could happen at any point.  The Mets, Brewers, and Angels are teams with reported recent interest in Kinsler’s services.  Should Kinsler be traded, Avila said the Tigers would likely sign a veteran “safety net” second baseman to compete with Dixon Machado in Spring Training, with Woodbery noting that such a veteran would probably be a minor league signing.
  • The Tigers are also getting some calls on Shane Greene, Avila said (hat tip to MLB.com’s Jason Beck).  Greene’s first full-time season as a reliever delivered some good results, and he even recorded nine saves after stepping into the closer’s role in August.  While Greene would be another good trade chip for the rebuilding Tigers, Avila said the interest in Greene was “not to the point where we felt it [a trade] was a good thing to do.”
  • The Twins have been in touch with their own free agents (including Bartolo Colon, Matt Belisle and Chris Gimenez) as well as the agent of former Twins closer Brandon Kintzler, MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger reports (Twitter link).
  • Interestingly, Gimenez has also been answering Yu Darvish’s questions about Minnesota, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.  Gimenez was Darvish’s personal catcher when the two played together for the Rangers.  The Twins are known to be exploring the possibility of making an uncharacteristic big splash by signing Darvish, and the pitcher is apparently also doing his homework on the club.
  • One name apparently not on Minnesota’s target list is veteran reliever Bryan Shaw, as Mike Berardino (Twitter link) reports that the Twins “haven’t shown much interest” in the righty.
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