Jorge Julio was added to the forty man roster last night, at the expense of Aaron Fultz who was finally DFAed after a short delay. Julio's addition returns the 40 man roster to full status, and means he has won the battle for the last bullpen job. I'm a bit meh on the matter. Jorge Julio does what Jorge Julio does, which is throws hard and in the general but not specific direction of home plate.
It's possible that the Indians have figured something out about Julio which will let him harness his control just a touch while retaining his strikeouts. Striking people out has never been a problem for Julio; since 2006 he's struck out 144 batters in 128 innings. Unfortunately, in that same time frame he's walked 66, more than one every other inning. He's also thrown a relatively incredible 15 wild pitches. This isn't something that's solved itself in spring, as he walked 7 in 11 IP with 3 wild pitches.
If there's something I keep hammering at in this space, it's that relievers are a naturally volatile bunch, so this could be the season that Julio shaves a handful of walks off that total, or maybe fewer singles fall in and they don't end up hurting him. He's spoken this spring of a new approach, making sure he's got something other than a hard fastball in his arsenal. If that's the case, the Indians found themselves a very good reliever for a season. If the Indians figure out in the middle of May that they have another Roberto Hernandez or Guillermo Mota on their hands, it's very easy to jettison Julio and promote someone from Buffalo in the hopes that this player is the one fortune finds appealing in 2008.
In other news Josh Barfield was optioned to Buffalo, ensuring that Andy Marte has won the job as the thirteenth position player. Barfield needs to play every day, an opportunity that would not be afforded him in Cleveland. Andy Marte needs a(nother, more final) chance to demonstrate if he's capable of producing at the major league level. Marte has shown more power this spring than he's previously demonstrated at the major league level, but with it has come awful defense. I worry that barring an injury to Casey Blake, he just won't get a chance to play with anything approaching regularity, so keeping him in Cleveland won't achieve a great deal.
Although Scott Elarton has been reassigned to minor league camp, Tom Mastny has not officially been optioned to Buffalo, so if Craig Breslow implodes in the next couple days or cusses Wedge out or something, he may yet win the final spot in the bullpen, but that's about what it would require. Interestingly, he's not listed on the active roster on indians.com.
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