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On Wednesday the Indians did something besides lose the Wild Card game:
The @Indians claim RHP Tyler Cloyd off waivers from @Phillies; designate LHP Clay Rapada for assignment.
— MLBRosterMoves (@MLBRosterMoves) October 2, 2013
Tyler Cloyd is a 26-year-old starting pitcher with marginal stuff. He was an 18th round pick back in 2008 and has slowly made his way up the minor-league ladder. In 2012 he had a breakout season (if you can really use that term for an older prospect), posting a 2.26 ERA between Reading (AA) and Lehigh Valley (AAA). He's a control pitcher whose fastball doesn't break 90 mph, and he regressed this year (4.71 ERA in AAA), so I wouldn't put him too high on the starting pitching depth chart. He has option years left, but I think there's a good possibility that the Indians try to sneak him through waivers and off the 40-man roster at some point in the winter, with the thought of having him be a back-of-the-rotation guy in Columbus.
Tyler Cloyd's career professional stats
| Year | Age | Tm | Lg | GS | IP | R | ER | HR | BB | SO | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 21 | PHI-min | A-,Rk | 3.91 | 13 | 76.0 | 35 | 33 | 8 | 22 | 69 | 9.6 | 0.9 | 2.6 | 8.2 | 3.14 | |
| 2009 | 22 | PHI-min | A,A+ | 3.54 | 26 | 165.1 | 75 | 65 | 7 | 42 | 116 | 9.4 | 0.4 | 2.3 | 6.3 | 2.76 | |
| 2010 | 23 | PHI-min | A+,AA | 5.17 | 5 | 78.1 | 49 | 45 | 11 | 17 | 73 | 10.3 | 1.3 | 2.0 | 8.4 | 4.29 | |
| 2011 | 24 | PHI-min | AA,A+ | 2.77 | 22 | 146.0 | 47 | 45 | 10 | 22 | 138 | 8.1 | 0.6 | 1.4 | 8.5 | 6.27 | |
| 2012 | 25 | PHI-min | AAA,AA | 2.26 | 26 | 167.0 | 44 | 42 | 15 | 41 | 113 | 6.8 | 0.8 | 2.2 | 6.1 | 2.76 | |
| 2012 | 25 | PHI | NL | 4.91 | 6 | 33.0 | 18 | 18 | 8 | 7 | 30 | 83 | 9.0 | 2.2 | 1.9 | 8.2 | 4.29 |
| 2013 | 26 | PHI-min | AAA | 4.71 | 19 | 112.2 | 70 | 59 | 21 | 26 | 93 | 10.0 | 1.7 | 2.1 | 7.4 | 3.58 | |
| 2013 | 26 | PHI | NL | 6.56 | 11 | 60.1 | 45 | 44 | 7 | 25 | 41 | 58 | 12.4 | 1.0 | 3.7 | 6.1 | 1.64 |
| 2 Yrs | 5.98 | 17 | 93.1 | 63 | 62 | 15 | 32 | 71 | 66 | 11.2 | 1.4 | 3.1 | 6.8 | 2.22 | |||
| 162 Game Avg. | 5.98 | 32 | 176 | 119 | 117 | 28 | 60 | 134 | 66 | 11.2 | 1.4 | 3.1 | 6.8 | 2.22 | |||
To make room for Cloyd the Indians designated Clay Rapada for assignment. Rapada made four appearances with the Indians in September, but aside from the September 2 game (the one in which Justin Masterson left early), none of those appearances were in games in which the outcome was in doubt. He's out of option years, and the Indians have better left-handed options on their 40-man roster. He'll very likely pass through waivers, be outrighted, and will become a minor-league free agent on October 15th.
Here's the first draft of my offseason 40-man roster. I've filled out the pertinent information on the projected 25-man roster, and I'll get to the remainder of the roster soon. The Indians have 6 major-league free agents on the roster, and if you count Ubaldo Jimenez (who will almost certainly decline his 2014 option) and Jason Kubel (whose 2014 team option will be decline), they'll have 8 spots opening up almost immediately after the World Series. And there's Matt Carson, who will undoubtedly be DFAed at some point soon. 4 of those spots are spoken for by players on the 60-day Disabled List (Lou Marson, Frank Herrmann, Scott Barnes, and Cord Phelps). I'll be going deeper into this roster calculus later in the month, but for now, here's the chart:
(click to embiggen)
