Cleveland Indians roster moves ... and a power & Bauer-inspired ST victory.

Indians 4, White Sox 1

Indians beat White Sox 4-1 as Trevor Bauer strikes out seven | Let's Go Tribe (Jason Lukehart)

Tribe backs Bauer with trio of home runs | indians.com

Cleveland Indians beat White Sox, 4-1, on Trevor Bauer's arm, three homers | cleveland.com

Trevor Bauer gave up yet another home run (along with his first walk of ST), but was otherwise extremely effective with a final line of 6.1IP 4H 1R 1ER 1BB 7SO. Scrabble, Swarzak, Hagadone and Atchison then mopped up in encouraging fashion.

Bradley Zimmer got his first start in CF - and promptly 2-run homered in his 2nd AB. Brett Hayes (who has hit well throughout ST) immediately followed up with a home run of his own, his third so far this year, and Jerry Sands then added another HR late on.

Indians news & notes

Cleveland Indians down to three players for one spot: Tyler Holt, Jerry Sands farmed out | cleveland.com

Will Tito go with an 8th reliever (Austin Adams) or opt for either Jesus Aguilar or Michael Martinez? Or does he have another idea in mind: "Francona said they could also add a player off the waiver wire."

Quality of Trevor Bauer's strikes improving; Scott Downs released -: Cleveland Indians quick hits | cleveland.com

Downs never had a realistic shot of making the 25-man, unless one of the three main lefties (Scrabble, Hagadone or Crockett) were injured.

Cleveland Indians 2015 payroll biggest since 2001, but last in AL Central | cleveland.com

Hoynsie estimates the 2015 payroll at roughly $86MM, up $3MM from last year.

Video: Indians Mean Tweets | MLB.com

If you haven't already seen this video of Tribe players, coaches and broadcasters responding to tweets, then it's well worth a look.

Every Team's Moneyball: Cleveland Indians | Baseball Prospectus

This insightful article on the Indians' hitting platoon strategy was actually published last week, but the fact that it wasn't behind the usual BP paywall may have caused it to be overlooked.

Tidbits from around MLB

The 2015 Season Preview in Data Visualization | The Hardball Times

Lots of pretty diagrams - the fielding charts are truly outstanding.

The Cubs assign Kris Bryant and Addison Russell to the minors, option Javier Baez as well | HardballTalk

The Cubs' future hasn't quite arrived just yet. Scott Boras is not amused.

Brewers release former All-Star closer Chris Perez | HardballTalk

Perhaps Perez can start a new career in PR?