The Indians finally made the necessary roster move with Juan Lara.  He's been dropped from the 40 man roster, cleared waivers and re-signed to a minor league deal.  This way, he'll remain on the team payroll and have his medical bills paid by the team.

This is simply the right thing to do, and something the fans, and probably more importantly the players, have come to expect from this organization.  It also has to be good for PR with other players in the Caribbean baseball academies like the one Lara came from.

Jay speculated in the past that when it's clear that he'll never be able pitch at the major league level again, the team would sign him to major league deal and DFA him so he qualifies for the MLBPA's pension and benefits.  Perhaps, they're not ready to concede that he won't get to that level again, hence this move instead.  If anything, that's a good sign about his level of function off the diamond.

This leaves the 40 man roster with 39 players.  Who is likely to fill that spot, and what are the implications good and bad to putting a player on that roster?