Riske has signed with Kansas City, while Ludwick, Mike Bacsik, Zach Sorensen and a few other former Tribe farmhands will try to get back to the majors with other clubs.
Riske, 30, goes to the Royals after splitting the 2006 season between the Red Sox and White Sox. A good middle reliever with the Indians from 1999 through 2005, he as part of the seven-player trade between Cleveland and Boston last January. He went 0-1 with a 3.72 ERA in eight appearances for the Red Sox and was traded on June 15 to Chicago, where he was 1-1 with a 3.93 ERA in 33 outings.
Vazquez, 30, who beat out Brandon Phillips for the Indians' utility infielder job in spring training a year ago, signed with the Texas Rangers. The veteran infielder did little during his time in Cleveland, hitting only .209 with one homer, eight RBI and four errors while filling in at shortstop, third base and second base before being sent to Triple-A Buffalo after the all-star break. He hit .242 with two homers and 11 RBI for the Bisons. A former starting shortstop in San Diego, he had been acquired in July 2005 from the Boston Red Sox in a trade for infielder Alex Cora.
Ochoa, 24, signed with the San Francisco Giants, who may believe as the Indians once did -- that he can eventually replace Omar Vizquel at shortstop. In 2006, Ochoa hit .251 in 104 games at Double-A Akron and .205 in a 16-game trial at Buffalo. Once highly regarded as a prospect by the Indians, the Venezuelan displayed good fielding skills during seven years in the Cleveland organization, but compiled only a .248 average with four homers in 608 games, though he did total 154 stolen bases.
Graves, 33, signed a minor-league deal with the Colorado Rockies. He spent the first couple of months with the Indians in 2006 as he tried to reclaim the form that made him an all-star closer in Cincinnati a few years ago. He went 2-1 with a 5.79 ERA in 14 innings over 13 appearances with Cleveland, then finished out the season at Buffalo, going 1-1 with a 4.01 ERA and one save -- in the final game of the season.
Jecmen, 23, signed with the Kansas City Royals. A seventh-round pick in 2004 out of Stanford, he went 4-3 with one save and 4.34 ERA at Class A Lake County in 2006.That basically matched his total numbers from his first two years in the organization, when he went a combined 4-3 with a 4.17 ERA and one save at Mahoning Valley.
Pinto, 22, signed with the Toronto Blue Jays after going 2-4 with a 4.60 ERA and one save in 36 games (76 1/3 innings) at Lake County. The native of Venezuela had posted eye-popping numbers for Cleveland's teams in Latin American leagues for three seasons. He went a combined 12-2 with a 1.67 ERA in 2002-03 in the Venezuelan Summer League, then was 8-2 with a 1.24 ERA in 2004 in the Dominican Summer League. He leveled off when he got to America, going 3-0 with a 2.52 ERA at Burlington and 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA at Lake County in 2005.
Bell, 29, signed with the Baltimore Orioles after going 9-10 with a 4.25 ERA at Buffalo. He had signed a minor-league deal with Cleveland last winter after going a combined 30-34 with a 5.69 ERA over parts of six seasons (2000-05) with Cincinnati, Texas and Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The Orioles also signed left-hander Oscar Alvarez, 26, who was formerly in the Indians' farm system. In 2006, he went 8-8 at Class AA Harrisburg in the Washington Nationals' system.
The Nationals signed lefty Bacsik, 29, who put up an astounding record for the Arizona Diamondbacks' Triple-A farm team at Tucson in 2006. He went 11-0 with a 2.79 ERA in 28 games, including 10 starts, but still didn't get called up for a chance to add to his big-league totals. Bacsik pitched in three games for the Indians in 2001, including a fine stretch of middle relief that enabled Cleveland to come up with perhaps its most remarkable comeback win over Seattle in which the Tribe overcame a 14-2 deficit to win, 15-14. He then went to the New York Mets and Texas Rangers and has a career mark of 5-5 with 5.88 ERA.
Ludwick, 28, once considered the Indians' cleanup hitter of the future, signed with the St. Louis Cardinals. He hit .266 with 28 homers and 80 RBI for Toledo, the Detroit Tigers' top farm club. After being acquired from Texas in 2003, he hit .265 with seven homers and 26 RBI in 39 games for Cleveland before hurting his knee -- one of numerous injuries that have sidelined his progress. He played in 15 games for the Tribe in 2004 and 19 games in 2005.
Sorensen, 29, signed with the Florida Marlins after hitting .242 with two homers and 22 RBI for Nashville, the Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. He had hit .135 with one homer and two RBI in 37 at-bats over 36 games with the Indians in 2004 and went 2-for-12 for the Angels in 2005.
Three other former Tribe farmhands, none of whom ever made it to Cleveland, signed minor-league deals.
Journeyman infielder Mike Kinkade, who spent the 2005 season at Buffalo, went to the Chicago Cubs organization. Lefty Derek Thompson, 25, a first-round pick by the Indians in 2000, signed with the Oakland Athletics. He had no record and a 3.50 ERA in four games for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2005, but missed all of 2006 after Tommy John surgery.
And right-hander Jim Crowell went back to the Philadelphia Phillies. The 31-year-old spent 2 1/2 years in the Indians' system before being traded with Graves, right-hander Scott Winchester and infielder Damian Jackson to the Reds for lefty John Smiley and infielder Jeff Branson on July 31, 1997. In 10 big-league games for the Reds (1997), Phillies (2004) and Marlins (2005), he's gone 0-1 with an 11.37 ERA.
Earlier in the off-season, these ex-Indians moved:
RHP Danys Baez, free agent from Braves to Orioles
RHP Zach Day, free agent from Nationals to Royals
C Einar Diaz, free agent from Dodgers to Pirates
LHP Alan Embree, free agent from Padres to Athletics
OF Kenny Lofton, free agent from Dodgers to Rangers
RHP Jose Mesa, free agent from Rockies to Tigers
OF Dave Roberts, free agent from Padres to Giants
RHP Justin Speier, free agent from Blue Jays to Angels
OF Willy Taveras, traded from Astros to Rockies
RHP Jaret Wright, traded from Yankees to Orioles
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