Cleveland Indians Sunday News and Notes: Indians Acquire Charles Brewer from Arizona Diamondbacks, Designate Scott Barnes for Assignment

Indians News

This hasn't been confirmed by either organization, so take it with a grain of salt:

Another Dbacks deal: RHP Charles Brewer, who was designated for assignment Thursday, traded to Indians. Told for cash considerations.

— Nick Piecoro (@nickpiecoro) November 23, 2014

But then again, if you look at Brewer's Twitter account description, that pretty much confirms the deal.

Brewer had been in the Arizona organization since 2009, when he was selected by the Diamondbacks in the 12th Round of that year's draft. Like Trevor Bauer and Adam Plutko, Brewer pitched for UCLA (Brewer and Bauer were teammates in 2009). Brewer was for a couple years included in Arizona's Top 30 prospects by Baseball America, but his progress has stalled out in the high minors. He did pitch in AAA Reno this past season (with a brief interlude in AA Mobile) and wasn't awful considering Reno's park effects. I'd place him behind McAllister/House/Tomlin on the depth chart, and assuming he has an option left would start the 2015 campaign in Columbus.

Update: the Indians have designated LHP Scott Barnes for Assignment to make room for Brewer.

#Indians 40-man roster moves today: RHP Charles Brewer acquired from @Dbacks for cash. LHP Scott Barnes designated for assignment

— Cleveland Indians (@Indians) November 23, 2014

Latest 40-man Roster

(This does not include Brewer, as the Indians have yet to officially add him to the roster. They would have to remove a player to add Brewer, as they current have a full roster.)

(Larger version can be found here)

Here's the moves the Indians made over the past week:

November 18

Signed RHSP Shaun Marcum and RHRP Dustin Molleken to minor-league contracts and Invited them to Spring Training

Marcum spent last year in the Tribe organization, but most of that time he was on the minor-league Disabled List recovering from major shoulder surgery. He appeared in a grand total of 9 games (8 if you don't count the rehab appearance in the AZL), pitching mostly in relief. I'm assuming the reason the Indians are bringing him back is to serve as minor-league starting depth, and perhaps with one more offseason between he and surgery he'll be much closer to returning to that role.

Molleken is 30-year-old relief pitcher who has yet to pitch in the majors. He was born in Canada (Regina, Saskatchewan to be exact), which I suppose doesn't tell you all that much about his baseball prowess. He was the closer for Milwaukee's AAA club (Nashville) a year ago, struck out 10.8 batters per 9, but also 4.2 batters per 9. He has spent some time in NPB (Nippon Professional Baseball - Japan's professional league), pitching with the Nippon Ham Fighters in parts in 2012 and 2013. I would classify him more as a player to help Columbus than one to help Cleveland, but I suppose you never know when a reliever will suddenly turn dominant for a 40-50 inning stretch.

November 20

Selected the Contracts of C Tony Wolters, 3B Giovanny Urshela, LHP Ryan Merritt, RHP Shawn Armstrong, and Cody Anderson

These were the additions to the 40-man roster in preparation for the Rule 5 Draft next month. Each of the players would have been eligible for the Rule 5 Draft had they not been added. There is a bit of strategy in selecting players to protect, as sometimes you protect a player likely to be taken rather than just protecting the "best" players that were eligible.

Urshela you've heard the most about over the last several months; he's always been a very good defender at third, but until this past season his bat had lagged behind his glove. He sprain his PCL in Winter Ball, but thankfully he won't need surgery and should be ready to go come Spring Training. Merritt is a pitcher that has succeeded with excellent command. Anderson has the stuff to pitch in a big-league rotation, so although he struggled in 2014 the Indians protected him. Wolters is new to the catching position, but is already considered at least competent behind the plate. Armstrong has dominating stuff, and if he can continue to improve his strike-throwing may see some action in Cleveland this coming season.

All five players were mentioned in the 2014 mid-season PTM post,

MLB News

Quiz! Name every member of the 500-HR club. | SportsonEarth.com : Sports on Earth Staff Article

I'm a sucker for these quizzes, and at the same time always do poorly on them. I only got 15 out of the 26 before time ran out, and several of the players I forgot actually played within my lifetime.