I usually don't worry too much about this stuff but I sure would hate to lose Castro.

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Indians Prospective‏ @indiansPro 10 hours ago

#Indians minor league players eligible to be taken in upcoming Rule 5 Draft on December 14th. Players which teams to protect need to be added to 40-man roster by November 20th.

Haase and Gonzalez joined their Dominican winter league teams yesterday. Haase 0-2, EG 1-3 with a SB.

Yandy made his debut this week going 2-4 with a triple. Last night he was 1-2 with 2 walks.

Francisco Mejia is going to join his DWL team on Nov. 26th. Is going to play 3rd base again there.

They have to protect Castro. Would also think they'd add Chang and Merryweather to the roster.

In the never-ending search for enough second basemen, the Indians claimed Rob Refsnyder off waivers, plays some OF too.
And they added three more infielders to the 40 man roster, including the obvious names: Willi Castro and Yu-Cheng Chang, and the somewhat less obvious but worthy Eric Stamets, who has been considered a quality glove but an inadequate bat throughout his career until he somehow raised his SLG from 357 to 463 this year; at age 26 he's a "late bloomer" apparently. Castro is 20 and Chang 22. RR another 26 year old who you'd figure they could pick up as a minor league free agent without wasting a roster spot on him --- then again he'll be an obvious DFA when Santana or Hosmer are signed.
Kyle Crockett waived. So was the forever injured Dylan Baker.
The only pitcher I could see likely to be added, Justin Merryweather, did get the promotion.

Chang, 22, appeared in 126 games for Double-A Akron last season, hitting .220/.312/.461 with 24 home runs, 24 doubles, five triples, 66 RBIs, 72 runs and 11 stolen bases. The right-handed batter has spent the entirey of his professional career as a shortstop and has turned in a .249/.325/.446 slash line over four seasons.

The 26-year-old Stamets -- acquired from the Angels in exchange for outfielder David Murphy in 2015 -- hit .259 with 16 homers, 26 doubles, 52 RBIs, 56 runs and 10 steals in 115 games last year between Double-A Akron and Columbus. Stamets, who can play multiple infield positions, posted a .357 slugging percentage from 2012-16, but saw that spike to .463 last year.

Merryweather, the Indians' No. 12 prospect, went 7-9 with a 5.32 ERA in 25 starts last year between Double-A and Triple-A. The 26-year-old right-hander had 128 strikeouts against 35 walks in 128 2/3 innings, and was much sharper at Double-A (3.38 ERA in nine starts) before moving up a level (6.58 ERA in 16 starts). Merryweather has a 3.92 ERA in four seasons in Cleveland's system.

Castro -- No. 9 on the Indians' Top 30 list -- is a switch-hitting, 20-year-old shortstop who spent all of last season with Class A Advanced Lynchburg. In 123 games, Castro hit .290/.337/.424 with 11 homers, 24 doubles, three triples, 58 RBIs, 69 runs and 19 stolen bases.

Refsnyder, 26, hit .170 (.463 OPS) in 52 games with the Yankees and Blue Jays last season, and posted a .320 average with an .869 OPS in 42 Triple-A games between the two organizations. He has spent parts of the past three seasons in the Majors, playing mostly corner outfield, second base and first base.

Seems pretty unlikely that anyone on that list posted above would draw interest in the Rule 5 draft. Rob Kaminsky would have been before his nearly all DL 2017. Sean Brady is another decent lefty but has never pitched in AA. Of course some team may go for Sicnarf to boost fan interest.

Luigi Rodriguez signed a free agent deal with San Fran. One less Rodriguez to confuse.

Haase has left his Dominican team and went back home. Won't be returning. No word why. Maybe something will be posted in Winter League folder explaining why.

Nellie Rodriguez is available for anyone who wants him in the Rule 5 draft, but his miserable debut in AAA makes that pretty unlikely. Ronnie seems to have moved to the top of Rodriguez Top 10, although I might cast my vote for young Johnathan who had a decent debut at age 17 in Arizona.

Civ- What about Santander? Is he now Orioles property or could he come back due to injury?

I think Santander has to on the Orioles roster for 60 days in 2018

MLB PROSPECTS & MINOR LEAGUES 2017

PROSPECT ANALYSIS
Is Rob Refsnyder still a good fit for the New York Yankees?
13
Once considered the second baseman of the New York Yankees future, it's time to question where Rob Refsnyder fits in.
by Wayne Cavadi Mar 29, 2016, 9:04am EDT
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Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
2016 looks like more of the same for Rob Refsnyder. After being assigned to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Sunday, Refsnyder will once again be trying to hone his defensive skills at another new position.


Refsnyder of course caught New York Yankees fans and prospect junkies attention with a spectacular run with the Trenton Thunder in 2014. The 2012 fifth round draft pick hit seemingly everything thrown at him as he slashed .342/.385/.548 in 60 Double-A games, while striking out just 38 times in 244 at bats (16%). The quick stop with the Thunder earned him a promotion to Scranton-Wilkes Barre where he also performed very well.


The Yankees entered 2015 with names like Stephen Drew, Brendan Ryan, Gregorio Petit and eventually Dustin Ackley as options at second base and many were wondering when Refsnyder would get his chance. While Refsnyder continued to hit well with the RailRiders last season, he continued to struggle in the field.


Refsnyder of course gained national attention winning the Most Outstanding Player of the College World Series for the University of Arizona in 2012. He did it as a starting right fielder. A year later, the Yankees would draft Aaron Judge, and Refsnyder was quickly moved to second base.


His first season was expectedly nightmarish, as he made 25 errors, but it was a transition to unfamiliar territory, so a learning curve was expected. He showed great promise cutting the errors in half in 2014, but saw a spike back to 18 in 2015. As someone who watched him in person in both 2014 and 2015, I can honestly say I saw major improvement in his range to both sides.


Still very much a work in progress, Ref got a small cup of tea in the Bronx in 2015. He showed he could handle big league pitching, picking up 13 hits (including three doubles and two home runs) in 43 at bats. His defense was ok in a limited role, making only one error and turning seven double plays, but his range factor (3.40) was his lowest since he changed positions in 2013.



And then came Starlin Castro.


Seemingly all of the strides Refsnyder had made towards being the Yankees second baseman of the future were wiped away with the acquisition Castro who is only one year senior to Refsnyder, but comes with six years of big league experience.


Once again, they moved Refsnyder to unfamiliar territory. He started to get game action at third base, a position he had played a combined total of zero games in his professional baseball career. The results have become well documented. He took a ball off the face trying to field a ground ball forcing him out of the game… on two consecutive days.


The next day, his hopes to make the Opening Day roster were gone as the Yankees assigned him to Triple-A. The assumption is he will get his licks at third base, which makes sense with the lack of depth in the organization at the hot corner and the injury history of Chase Headley (as well as the fact that he hasn’t lived up to the contract he signed). Much like Gary Sanchez who appeared to be heading for an Opening Day roster spot but was re-assigned as well, the Yankees seemingly feel it’s better for Ref to get everyday action.


So, where does Refsnyder fit in to the Yankees future? It’s a very bizarre situation. On the one hand, Refsnyder is still young, and at age 25 still has plenty of time to learn new skills. On the other hand, it took him the better part of three years to become an average second baseman. What do the Yankees see in Refsnyder that have them believing that he can learn a traditionally more difficult infield position?


Refsnyder’s bat is definitely attractive and the more positions that he can learn to play, the more valuable he becomes. The Yankees have the middle of their infield locked up with youth in Castro, Didi Gregorius and Jorge Mateo on the pipeline. All of the Yankees Universe is awaiting the arrival of The Judge. If Refsnyder can’t convert to third, he may be looking at a new uniform come the trade deadline.

As noted above, Santander has to complete his mandated time on the big league roster. The Orioles can stretch this out with more time on the DL, more minor league rehab. With some creativity they can drag this through 2018.

copied from articles:

Free agents: Indians minor league players who have declared free agency at Columbus include: utility man Michael Martinez, infielder Ronny Rodriguez, left-hander Chris Narverson, outfielder Jordan Smith, outfielder David Lough, right-hander Jarrett Grube, right-hander Joe Colon, left-hander Tim Cooney, right-hander Travis Banwart, catcher Adam Moore, infielder Josh Wilson, right-hander Carlos Frias, right-hander Jeff Johnson and right-hander Enosil Tejada.

Tribe players who declared free agency at Class AA Akron include: right-hander Perci Garner, outfielder Luigi Rodriguez, third baseman Yonathan Mendoza, right-hander Robbie Aviles, catcher Juan De La Cruz and left-hander Luis Lugo.

Many of those guys are career minor leaguers but there a few who are significant: Tim Cooney was near the top of the Cardinals prospect list before injury and rated about No. 15 for Cleveland last spring. But he got either zero or just a couple innings of work in last summer. Maybe on reflection, he's the only one who's significant. LRod cracked a Top 10 list early in his minor league career but stalled in High A, had a 1/2 year suspension and apparently has no future. RonnyRod also looked promising early in his career but stalled in Akron. Last year was his best season in several years. But it does appear that we are going to be leaving the Rodriguez Era with little to show for it. Nellie remains but he was pretty lousy last summer too, although his numbers did improve from abysmal to bad to passable as the months went by.

Lugo was one of my many unsuccessful breakout players a number of years back. A big lefty who never added the oomph to his fastball, has iffy command and inconsistent at best. Jordan Smith has a great RF arm and has proportionately as little power as any big guy in the game. Aviles was a talented kid who was one of those kid who was injured so dropped way down in the draft and the Indians got cheap, showed some signs but not many, of his old promise.

Yandy has left his winter league team. Going back to America to have an injury checked out. He called it "leg problem".

Wow, this took me by surprise.

Indians Prospective‏ @indiansPro 4 minutes ago
#Indians RHP Brock Hartson has retired from baseball and walked away on his own accord. Hartson was drafted by Cleveland in the 21st round of the 2015 draft out of the University of Texas San Antonio.
Career numbers: 294(IP) 256(H) 115(R) 96(ER) 73(BB) 212(SO) 2.94 ERA