To add Chen to rotation, Indians DFA Swarzak

CLEVELAND -- With little wiggle room on the Indians' roster, reliever Anthony Swarzak became the odd man out Saturday, when Cleveland added starter Bruce Chen to the rotation.

The Tribe designated Swarzak for assignment prior to Saturday's game against the Twins in order to purchase the contract of Chen from Triple-A Columbus. With right-handed reliever Ryan Webb recently promoted to the big league bullpen, and Zach McAllister able to log multi-inning relief outings, Swarzak's role came into question.

"We met again this morning and we were trying to find a way to not lose our pitching, and add Bruce," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "We finally got to the point where we couldn't, so we talked to Anthony. We explained to him that it wasn't an indictment on him. It was circumstances that happen when things like this come up.

"He'll be exposed to waivers -- a trade or waivers. We'll see what happens there and we'll go from there. He was very professional about it."

The Indians have 10 days to either trade or release Swarzak, or send him outright to a Minor League affiliate if he clears waivers.

In 10 appearances for the Tribe this season, the 29-year-old Swarzak posted a 3.38 ERA with 13 strikeouts and four walks in 13 1/3 innings. The right-hander also allowed 18 hits and a turned in a 1.65 WHIP, even after logging two scoreless, hitless innings in Friday's 9-3 loss to Minnesota. Swarzak has gone 16-24 with a 4.45 ERA in 191 career games in stints with the Twins and Indians.

Chen, 37, was scheduled to start against the Twins on Saturday and will serve as Cleveland's fifth starter.