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With Giovanny Urshela coming off of the DL today, the Indians 40-man roster sat at 41. The math majors out there will tell you that there are too many people on the Indians and someone has to be designated for assignment. The two prime candidates were Erik Gonzalez and Giovanny Urshela, and the front office has made their decision:
Roster moves:
— Cleveland Indians (@Indians) May 4, 2018
- Selected the contract of RHP Alexi Ogando from Triple-A Columbus
- Designated LHP Jeff Beliveau for assignment
- Activated INF Gio Urshela from the 10-day DL and designated him for assignment
- Optioned RHP Adam Plutko to Triple-A Columbus pic.twitter.com/gU6OAnsHxU
None of these moves are really all that surprising. The one everyone was waiting on was which of Gonzalez or Urshela was going to be released.
Urshela was always heralded as a glove-first third baseman, and his stats seem to indicate as much. In 148 games across two seasons with the Tribe, Urshela slashed .225/.273/.314 (which is an OPS+ of 55). He was never going to be Evan Longoria or Manny Machado, but his defense was good enough to warrant him a roster spot.
Unfortunately, most Tribe fans will remember him for his abysmal display in the 2017 ALDS. I wish nothing but the best for Urshela and it’s sad to see him go out with the last game he played for the Indians being one of his worst.