Indians Continue to Trim Down the Roster, Inform Two Vets They Won’t Make the Team

With the season opener a week from tomorrow in Minnesota, the Indians roster is starting to come to form, as the team already sent one of the surprises of the spring, outfielder Oscar Mercado, to Triple-A Columbus on Tuesday, and today Terry Francona announced a couple more moves for the team.

The club has informed two veterans brought in, infielder Ryan Flaherty and righty relief pitcher Justin Grimm that they both will not make the Major League roster.

Flaherty played in 17 games, hitting .243 with a pair of homers and eight runs batted in. The 32-year-old hit .217 last year in 81 games with the Atlanta Braves.

He won’t take a minor league deal with the Tribe, and instead will become a free agent.

Grimm had a 1.04 ERA in 8.2 innings this spring as he looked to win a spot in the teams’ bullpen. Last season Grimm pitched with both the Royals and Mariners.

Right handed pitcher Alex Wilson was also told on Wednesday based on current projections he will not be making the Opening Day roster.

Wilson had looked good this spring, in eight games he carried a .216 ERA and teams were hitting .176 against him.

Francona also announced that the team has released relief pitcher Tyler Clippard from his contract and re-signed to another Minor League deal; he will remain in MLB camp with the club rehabbing pectoral injury.

The injury to Clippard took place back on March 9th, and it was announced five days ago that he would be shut down for 3-4 weeks as he works his way back from the pec injury.

Finally the team reassigned righty pitcher A.J. Cole to Minor League camp. This spring Cole allowed four earned runs in eight innings, sporting a 4.50 ERA.