Masa removed for Huff, Sipp sent down, Aquino brought up

The Indians will remove Masa Kobayashi from both the 25-man roster and the 40-man roster today to make way for the purchase of David Huff's contract from Triple-A Columbus. Huff, who was not previously on the 40-man roster, will get the start this afternoon in Tampa in his major-league debut.

UPDATE: (Note new link above.) The Indians also purchased righty reliever Greg Aquino's contract from Columbus, while demoting imposing lefty relief prospect Tony Sipp back to Triple-A for more fine-tuning. Sipp was mighty impressive in his first few outings in the majors, but eventually his intermittent control issues caught up with him. Aquino is a 30-year-old journeyman with no particularly impressive notches on his résumé, part of the continuing Hergification of (or simple experimentation with) the Tribe bullpen.

Scott Lewis was moved to the 60-day DL to clear one more spot for Aquino on the 40-man roster. Lewis will not be eligible to return before June 10. He was reported a week ago to have had a setback in his rehab.

Ordinarily, a player who is less than two years into his pro career with an MLB organization, as Masa is, has several option years remaining, but the Indians' two-year, $6 million deal with Masa prohibits his being assigned to a minor league club without his consent. It appears, however, that since the Indians would need his permission anyway, they will not ask him to accept an optional assignment, but will instead designate him for assignment off of the 40-man roster, asking Masa to accept outright assignment to Columbus.

Going the "outright" route rather than the "option" route indicates that the Indians aren't concerned with losing Masa on waivers. They say they want him to stick around, and he says he might not have any better options — either way, we need a 40-man spot for Huff, and the Indians clearly feel Masa is the least valuable asset on it. With Huff and Aquino taking SLewis and Masa's spots, the Indians continue to have 21 pitchers on the 40-man roster, not including Westbrook and SLewis.

over 2 years ago Jay 31 comments 0 recs |

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I had high hopes for Masa when we acquired him. It’s hard to believe that, less than two years later, we are seeing the worst case scenario.

I become an expert simply by doing something.

by Brad D on May 17, 2009 9:57 AM EDT reply actions

He was effective for a few months.

Well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.

by Jay on May 17, 2009 10:20 AM EDT up reply actions

Also … say goodbye to Sipp … and hello to Aquino.

Wonder who else gets cut from the 40-man? Rundles? Jackson?

by FallsTribeFan on May 17, 2009 10:51 AM EDT up reply actions

Scott Lewis to 60-day DL.

by FallsTribeFan on May 17, 2009 10:57 AM EDT up reply actions

What’s this mean, probably TJ surgery .. again?

by Toxicadam on May 17, 2009 1:04 PM EDT up reply actions

Seems like there’s very little in between with some of these Japanese league pitchers … you either get very effective guys … or complete washouts.

Not many hang around the “effective but not great” zone … at least that I can think of … maybe Nomo, who also had some nice years when he was younger.

by FallsTribeFan on May 17, 2009 10:43 AM EDT reply actions

I don’t think that’s really true. Dice-K, for one, has been good but not great, as have both Matsuis.

Well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.

by Jay on May 17, 2009 11:07 AM EDT up reply actions

I really wasn’t referring to position players … on the whole they seem to translate better than the pitchers do.

As for Dice-K … I dunno … Year 1 he was “good”, but Year 2 he was pretty fantastic … ERA+ of 159 … yes, he had a high walk rate … but 128 hits in 167 IP is nothing to sneeze at.

Obviously, this year injury robbed him of his effectiveness in the couple starts he made.

by FallsTribeFan on May 17, 2009 11:10 AM EDT up reply actions

I sneeze at it. His 2008 was an oddball season and not likely to be repeated regardless of injuries.

Well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.

by Jay on May 17, 2009 1:06 PM EDT up reply actions

Seems like there’s very little in between with some of these Japanese league pitchers … you either get very effective guys … or complete washouts.

While I agree that Dice K’s 2008 season was a fluke in many ways, LOB%, HR/FB%, DER%, .267 BABIP,…..and on and on and on…actually yeah I agree with your point.

by hans on May 17, 2009 1:18 PM EDT up reply actions

Wouldn’t it be hilarious (and awesome) if Kawakami has a better career than Dice-BB?

FE WEE

by westbrook on May 17, 2009 12:01 PM EDT up reply actions

Also, we appear to have traded Randy Newsom to Pittsburgh for a bottle of Heinz ketchup

by APV on May 17, 2009 11:12 AM EDT reply actions

Interesting.

It really became clear that they were never really interested in giving Newsom a shot …

Good for him … he’s a great kid … I hope me makes the bigs at least for a cup of coffee.

He switches dugouts today in Altoona … that has to be a weird feeling.

by FallsTribeFan on May 17, 2009 11:17 AM EDT up reply actions

That’s great news for Newsom. It was baffling how they were (mis)treating him. Especially given our bullpen woes the past two years.

by Toxicadam on May 17, 2009 1:05 PM EDT up reply actions

He tops out at 81. Bradford has had success as a submariner at that pitch speed, but it’s tough to succeed with that. They probably just felt he couldn’t survive in the major leagues.

by TribeJay on May 17, 2009 1:26 PM EDT up reply actions

Busy Sunday morning

by APV on May 17, 2009 11:13 AM EDT reply actions

Also…today’s game is the final one before my predicted Wedge firing date. I wonder if another bad loss is enough to make it happen?

by APV on May 17, 2009 11:15 AM EDT reply actions

11 under … in a division where .500 will lead the pack … gotta think something has to happen soon.

That said, I have a weird feeling that to get rid of Wedge, Shapiro may have to go too.

by FallsTribeFan on May 17, 2009 11:18 AM EDT up reply actions

Ain’t going to happen. Not until all hope is lost, and even then Shapiro keeps his j.o.b.

by odradek on May 17, 2009 11:28 AM EDT up reply actions

Wedge makes a move with Grady — DAY OFF

by palcal on May 17, 2009 12:42 PM EDT reply actions

Yup.

Today’s lineup looks dangerously close to the day Billy Martin pulled one out of a hat.

by FallsTribeFan on May 17, 2009 12:46 PM EDT up reply actions

I’m not one that puts too much in a lineup typically, but I’ve been trying to understand Garko in LF and DeRosa at 1B for about 10 minutes now. The result? A headache.

by Fundamentals on May 17, 2009 1:01 PM EDT up reply actions

TURNING and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

by APV on May 17, 2009 1:04 PM EDT up reply actions

nice Yeats drop. Yeats was totally crazy, I guess. But the scale of this poem matches the frustration that the Indians FO must be feeling right now. The beast is slouching toward Bethlehem.

by joeee on May 17, 2009 9:09 PM EDT up reply actions

Gut reaction. Blech.

Given five seconds to propose an explanation, here’s what I get: Garko is so mistrusted to make routine plays at first base that Wedge feels he has to put DeRosa there and take his chances in LF.

Given five more seconds: Wedge is an idiot, and the Indians make serious misjudgments about the impact of putting different players at different defensive positions.

Well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.

by Jay on May 17, 2009 1:05 PM EDT up reply actions

I had a similar thought initially, because Garko is far from a defensive standout. However, DeRosa hasn’t been very good at 1B either, and I have a pretty good idea who would be better in LF. Or, I thought you could even put DeRosa at 2B, Garko at 1B and see if there was a young player on the bench who might be worth giving some ABs to. But, I know, that’s lunacy…

by Fundamentals on May 17, 2009 1:09 PM EDT up reply actions

I would like to hear his take on why he feels better with Garko in LF and DeRosa at 1B. DeRosa should have much better range at 1B, but you have a lefty making his MLB debut and you have Garko in LF and Ben Fran in CF??

by TribeJay on May 17, 2009 1:28 PM EDT up reply actions