--C Carlos Santana was the biggest name of the five players the Indians added to their major league roster. Acquired as part of a midseason trade in which the Indians dealt INF Casey Blake to the Dodgers, Santana had a monster minor league season that stamps him as perhaps the organization's top prospect.
In a combined 463 at-bats at the Class A and Class AA levels for Los Angeles and Cleveland, the 22-year-old Santana hit .326 with 21 home runs, 39 doubles, 117 RBIs and 125 runs. Santana is expected to open the 2009 season at Class AA Akron.
--RHP Jeff Stevens, the forgotten man the Indians received from Cincinnati two years ago in the lopsided Brandon Phillips trade, was one of five players the Indians added to their major league roster.
In a combined 36 appearances, both as a reliever and a starter between Class AAA Buffalo and Class AA Akron, Stevens was 5-4 with a 3.24 ERA, holding opposing batters to a .184 batting average and averaging 12.5 strikeouts per nine innings. Stevens will come to training camp in 2009 and compete for a spot in the Cleveland bullpen.
The other players added to the major league roster were C Carlos Santana, OF Trevor Crowe, C Chris Gimenez, and RHP Hector Rondon.
--Ex-Indians 3B Travis Fryman will return to the organization in 2008 for his second season as a minor league manager. Fryman will once again manage the Indians' Mahoning Valley (Ohio) affiliate in the short-season New York-Penn League.
Other minor league managerial assignments include Torey Lovullo at Class AAA Columbus (Ohio), Mike Sarbaugh at Class AA Akron (Ohio), Chris Tremie at high Class A Kinston (N.C.), Aaron Holbert at low Class A Lake County (Eastlake, Ohio), and Ted Kubiak, with the Indians' rookie-level team in the Arizona League.
--INF Andy Cannizaro and C Damaso Espino were signed by the Indians to minor league contracts, and they were invited to the major league spring training camp as non-roster players.
Cannizaro, 29, split the 2008 season between Class AAA Durham and Class AAA Buffalo. He hit .240 for Tampa Bay's Durham affiliate before being acquired by the Indians for cash. At Buffalo, Cannizaro hit .321 in 84 at-bats.
Espino, 25, hit .275 for the Indians' Class AA Akron affiliate in 2008.
--RHP Jensen Lewis, who remains the Indians' closer unless the club acquires another one, is one of just four relievers manager Eric Wedge said has guaranteed spots on the Opening Day roster in 2009, barring injury.
Wedge said the other three are RHP Rafael Betancourt, RHP Masa Kobayashi and LHP Rafael Perez.
BY THE NUMBERS: 7 -- Four-plus-RBI games by 1B Ryan Garko in 2008. That tied Garko with Miguel Cabrera and Ryan Howard for the most four-plus-RBI games in the major leagues.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "He's proven to us he's capable of being an everyday player. Whether or not he is, that's up to him. But he's proven in the short term he can be an everyday player." -- Manager Eric Wedge, on OF Shin-Soo Choo, who may get a chance to be a starting corner outfielder in 2009 after hitting .309 with 28 doubles, 14 home runs and 66 RBIs in 317 at-bats in 2008.
