Indians add 5 players to 40-man roster
CLEVELAND, OH - The Cleveland Indians today announced the club has made the following transactions involving the Major League 40-man roster:
Selected the contracts of INF Willi Castro, INF Yu Chang, RHP Julian Merryweather and INF Eric Stamets from the Triple-A Columbus Clippers.
Claimed INF Rob Refsnyder off waivers from the Toronto Blue Jays.
Designated LHP Kyle Crockett and RHP Dylan Baker for assignment (roster is at 40 players).
Castro, 20, spent the season at Single-A Lynchburg, batting .290 (136-469) with 24 2B, 3 3B, 11 HR & 58 RBI in 123 games for the Carolina League co-champions. He also scored 69 runs and stole 19 bases, finishing second in the Carolina League with a team-high 136 hits and also ranked fourth in the league in average and sixth in runs. He was named an organizational All-Star (SS) by MLB.com and was a midseason and postseason Carolina League All-Star selection. The Santo Domingo, DR resident entered the season evaluated as the 13th-best prospect in the Indians system according to MLB.com. He was signed at the international deadline in 2013.
Chang, 22, spent the 2017 season at AA Akron, hitting .220 (97-440) with 24 2B, 5 3B, 24 HR and 66 RBI in 126 games. His career-high 24 home runs were fourth-most among Indians minor leaguers, fifth in the Eastern League and the most among Minor League shortstops. He also ranked tied for fourth in the E.L. in runs (72) and was a midseason league All-Star selection. The Taitung, Taiwan native was signed by Cleveland in June 2013 as a free agent and entered the season as the 11th-best prospect in the Indians system according to MLB.com.
Merryweather, 26, split season between AAA Columbus and AA Akron, going a combined 7-9 with a 5.32 ERA in 25 starts (128.2IP, 142H, 76ER, 16HR, 35BB, 128SO), starting the year with Akron before a May 29 promotion to Columbus. He finished tied for fourth in the organization with 128 strikeouts as his 2016 combined ERA of 2.60 between Lynchburg and Akron was second-lowest in the system. The Berkeley, CA native was the club's fifth round pick (158th overall) in the 2014 draft out of Oklahoma Baptist University. His fastball was rated best in the organization entering 2017 (Baseball America).
Stamets, 26, split the 2017 season between AA Akron and AAA Columbus, hitting a career-high 16 home runs, including 8 over a 12-game stretch from May 27-June 16. For the year he hit a combined .259 (97-374) with 26 2B, 1 3B, 16 HR & 52 RBI in 115 games. On the year he appeared in 10 games each at second and third base and 101 games at short, compiling a season fielding pct. of .977 (10 E, 430 TC). The Dublin, Ohio native and Dublin Scioto High School grad was acquired by Cleveland in July 2015 from the LA Angels for OF David Murphy. He was LA's sixth round pick in the 2012 draft out of the University of Evansville.