Lending some validity to the reports that Fausto Carmona may not be available for spring training, the Cleveland Indians placed him on the restricted list on Wednesday, according to the official MLB Transactions page. Placing a player on the restricted list allows a team to retain rights for a player who is out of baseball for any reason. Perhaps a player retires early when he still seems as though he can come back, or perhaps a player happens to be using a fake identity to hide his age and play baseball in the United States. It works for all of that.
Carmona, or Roberto Hernandez Heredia, has less than a month to get things sorted out before pitchers have to report to spring training. It's unclear what the Indians are going to do with Carmona in the end, but placing him on the restricted list means that he doesn't count towards the 25-man or 40-man roster, doesn't receive pay and isn't allowed to sign with another team. The move probably signifies that Carmona is going to be with the team this season at this point.
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