Meloan, Diaz Activated to Bisons
Meloan and Diaz will fill the roster spots as INF Andy Gonzalez had his contract purchased by the Indians yesterday and RHP Jeff Stevens was placed on the temporary inactive list to begin his Olympic preparations with Team USA.
The Cleveland Indians have also traded INF Chris De La Cruz to the Florida Marlins organization.
Meloan, 24, was the Dodgers 5th round selection out of the University of Arizona in the 2005 MLB First-Year Player Draft. The 6-3, 225 pound right-hander made his Major League debut with the Dodgers just last season, appearing in 5 games in September (7.1IP, 8H, 9R, 9ER, 8BB, 7K). He began 2007 at Double-A Jacksonville where he went 5-2 with 19 saves and a 2.18 ERA (45.1IP, 24H, 11ER, 18BB, 70K) in 35 appearances out of the bullpen while being named to the Southern League All-Star team and top reliever in the SL by Baseball America. He was later promoted to Triple-A Las Vegas where he went 2-0 with a 1.69 ERA (21.1IP, 12H, 4ER, 9BB, 21K) in 14 appearances before his call-up by LA.
Meloan was converted by the Dodgers to a starting pitcher this season and has spent the entire campaign with the Las Vegas 51's, going 5-10 with a 4.97 ERA (105.0IP, 119H, 72R, 58ER, 60BB, 99K) in 21 games and 20 starts this season. He will work out of the Bisons bullpen.
Diaz, 23, has made the Triple-A level after just 19 professional games. A 48th round selection by the Indians in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft, Diaz has hit .288 (17-59) with four doubles and nine RBI for short-season Mahoning Valley of the New York-Penn League.
Gonzalez hit .242 (70-289) with 13 doubles, seven home runs and 35RBI in 83 games with Buffalo. De La Cruz hit .156 (7-45) with four RBI in 19 games with the Bisons. He was on the team's disabled list prior to the trade.