Transactions: Escape from Chateau d'If

Outrighted 3B Andy Marte to Columbus (AAA)

Marte can now become a free agent, and while he probably won't get a major-league deal, he'll have a lot of NRI opportunities with other clubs. At this point, with the third base free agent market thin at best, and given how bad it's gone for him over the past five years as Cleveland property, why would he not try to find another organization to latch onto? He's 27, was once one of the top prospects in baseball, and still has the ability to play good defense at a position where the combination of good defense and power is especially hard to find.

Outrighted IF Drew Sutton, IF Wes Hodges, and OF Chad Huffman to Columbus (AAA)

I think Sutton could be a useful player to the Indians if they retain him. In his brief time with the Indians, he looked pretty good at shortstop, a trait that's in short supply in the organization. Even with all the middle infielders at the AAA and major-league level, I think that the Indians still need to grab a utility infielder in free agency.

Wes Hodges was a bit better at the plate in 2010, but as he's no longer a third baseman, a .270/.308/.430 line is not going to translate into a major-league future.

The Philadelphia Phillies Claimed SS Carlos Rivero (AA) off Waivers

Rivero is still 22, but his bat has really fallen off after getting to Akron. This season, he walked only 28 times in 444 plate appearances while striking out 81 times. That free-swinging approached resulted in 24 extra-base hits. Time to go back to the drawing board, Carlos.

Outrighted C Luke Carlin to Columbus (AAA)

Outrighted RHP Hector Ambriz, C/IF Chris Gimenez, and RHP Anthony Reyes to Columbus (AAA)

Ambriz recently had Tommy John surgery, and this is his first outright, so he'll stick with the organization through his rehab. Gimenez and Reyes can both become free agents, but the Indians have expressed interest in retaining them.

(Title explanation: In the classic novel The Count of Monte Cristo, Edmund Dantes escaped the island prison Chateau d'If by taking the place of a dead prisoner. The jailers threw what they thought to be a dead body into the Mediterranean, and Dantes swam to safety. He later found a fortune in buried treasure and came back in the guise of the Count of Monte Cristo to exact his meticulously-planned revenge against the people who put him in prison.)