Cleveland Indians: Shaun Marcum DFA’d; Jhoulys Chacin signed to minor league deal

Tribe DFA Marcum, sign Chacin to minor league deal

The movement of the Cleveland Indians roster continued today, as the Tribe made a few more moves. They called up catcher

from Columbus and designated

for assignment, while also signing former Rockies starter

.

The only player of these transactions that makes a lot of sense was the call-up of Hayes. Designating Marcum now seems like odd timing, and especially since he has been effective since returning from thoracic outlet syndrome.

Chacin–once thought to be their future ace–was released by the Rockies in early spring after posting terrible numbers in four appearances (9 2/3 innings, seven runs and 16 hits. He pitched well in 2013, posting a 3.47 ERA in 197 1/3 innings. But he missed much of last season with a bad shoulder, posting a 1-7 record with a 5.40 ERA.

To DFA Marcum when he’s made it clear that he wanted to stay in Cleveland–and then pitching well enough to make his case has to make you wonder about the situation in-house with him. Chacin was bad last year, bad this year–but apparently they see enough to sign him to a minor-league deal. That being said, it’s a low-risk, high-reward on a minor league deal–just doesn’t really make much sense.

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The belief of myself and a few others here is that Marcum–now healthy–believes he can be a starter again, and the Tribe has no place for him in the rotation. This could be a simple respect move, and the Indians are simply going through the motions to release him so he can find an opportunity.

In the case of Hayes, he has spent time with the Marlins and Royals organizations over the past six year in limited duty. With Yan Gomes out an expected 6-8 weeks, this could likely be a stopgap solution while they look for other opportunities behind the plate. The Chicago Cubs have actively shopped Welington Castillo, while the Jays have done the same with Dioner Navarro.

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