Rouse, Garko, and Mastny make the team

[consigliere]

The Indians have optioned OF SHIN-SOO CHOO, OF BEN FRANCISCO & LHP JUAN LARA to AAA Buffalo and reassigned INF LUIS RIVAS to their minor league camp. There are still 28 players in the Indians' Major League camp.

Whew.

I was getting nervous there that they may in fact do something stupid and option Garko. I like the three players they kept, although may have gone with Lara instead for the 2nd lefty.

In any case, we'll see B-Fran, Choo, Lara and others this year at some point.

[dpdad]

I guess this means Trot Nixon isn't going on the DL. I still would rather have Choo on the squad than Nixon. But Nixon's probably much better in the clubhouse.

[MadThinker88]

I guess the minor league rosters will get sorted out over the weekend.

The more I looked at it, the more I doubted Garko would get sent out. Putting Garko in AAA or AA would have really unbalanced those rosters and I think the Indians like the idea of outfield rotations in order to prep the kids for bench roles or possibly different callup needs.

[consigliere]

Yeah, I've been 99% certain all spring Garko would make the team. It would be pure lunacy to not have him on it. The 1% I was unsure about was that of course the Indians are prone to stupid roster decisions....

But yeah, they will have a four man rotation in Buffalo with the outfielders there all playing every spot on the outfield. With Gutierrez on the DL, I wonder if that opens the door for Barton to start in Buffalo, or (more likely) it saves Jason Cooper's hide from being cut (for now).