The Indians have re-signed 29-year old righty reliever Tom Mastny to a minor league deal after he failed in Japan. Mastny last pitched with the Indians in 2008. He has pitched in 80 games (1 start) in his career with the Indians and he is 9-5 with 5 saves, a 6.13 ERA and a 1.69 WHIP. If the Indians brought him back for anything more than depth in AAA they are in big trouble.

The Cleveland Indians have signed 34-year old 1B/3B/OF Russell Branyan to a 1-year, $2 million dollar deal with another $1 million bucks in possible incentives. He also has a mutual option for the 2011 season valued at $5 million bucks. Branyan played in 116 games for the Mariners last season and he was 108 for 431 (.251 avg, .867 OPS) with 64 runs scored, 31 homers and 76 RBIs. Branyan has now played in 882 games in his major league career and he is 568 for 2,431 (.234 avg, .822 OPS) with 347 runs scored, 164 homers and 396 RBIs. Branyan does whiff a lot (946 times in his career) so his .251 batting average of last season is likely a best case scenario. Branyan will likely battle Matt LaPorta for the starting job at 1B this spring. I love this signing for the Indians as maybe Branyan can pay them back for all of the years they stood by him.

The Indians have signed 35-year old righty reliever Jamey Wright to a minor league deal. Wright pitched in 65 games (0 starts) for the Royals last season and he was 3-5 with a 4.33 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP. Wright has now pitched in 420 games (246 starts) in his major league career and he is 82-115 with a 5.03 ERA and a 1.58 WHIP. The Indians have nothing to lose in giving Wright a shot this spring but I am not so sure that he is good enough to help them anyway.

The Indians have acquired 27-year old righty swinging shortstop Brian Bixler from the Pirates for 22-year old righty swinging 3B/OF Jesus Brito. Bixler played in 18 games for the Pirates last season and he was 10 for 44 (.227 avg, .602 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 0 homers, 3 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He also played in 108 games in AAA-ball last season in which he was 111 for 403 (.275 avg, .782 OPS) with 71 runs scored, 9 homers, 43 RBIs and 13 stolen bases. The Indians are hoping that Bixler can improve as a hitter because he is a solid defensive player. He has now played in 68 games in his major league career and he is 27 for 152 (.178 avg, .475 OPS) with 21 runs scored, 0 homers, 5 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Jesus Brito was outstanding in Rookie+A-ball for the Indians last season as he played in 60 games in which he was 79 for 224 (.353 avg, .998 OPS) with 52 runs scored, 3 homers, 43 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. He played four years in the Indians’ system appearing in 258 games in which he was 229 for 893 (.256 avg, .739 OPS) with 153 runs scored, 7 homers, 120 RBIs and 28 stolen bases.

The Indians have signed 38-year old righty swinging catcher Mike Redmond to a 1-year deal. He played in 45 games for the Twins last season and he was 32 for 135 (.237 avg, .588 OPS) with 9 runs scored and 7 RBIs. He has now played in 741 games in his major league career and he is 636 for 2,201 (.289 avg, .705 OPS) with 201 runs scored, 13 homers and 238 RBIs. I like this signing for the Indians as Redmond has been a solid back-up catcher in his career and he has really handled pitching staffs well.