Jason Michaels Is Out of a Job

Remember a few weeks ago when I wrote that want ad for the Cleveland Indians, who were looking to fill a position out in left field? Well, stop sending in your applications because apparently the Indians found someone to take the job. As a result, Jason Michaels is about to be designated for assignment.

Indians General Manager Mark Shapiro held a conference call on the team's day off Monday to announce officially what had been rumored for a few days: The team will designate veteran outfielder Jason Michaels for assignment and recall rookie Ben Francisco from Triple-A Buffalo today.

''(Francisco) is an outfielder that we felt potentially could give our club a spark. (He's) obviously got more power and has the ability to not necessarily be a platoon guy,'' Shapiro said. ''He has been a guy who has hit left- and right-handed pitching, so he gives [Indians manager] Eric [Wedge] the ability to both keep [left fielder] David Dellucci strong and healthy and also protect [right fielder] Franklin Gutierrez some as well.''

This move is one that had to be made, because while Dellucci has been giving the Tribe some production, Michaels has been terrible. In 21 games he's hit .207/.258/.276, which just doesn't cut it unless you're some kind of defensive superhero, which Michaels isn't.

Ben Francisco hasn't really done much better down in Buffalo, hitting .228/.308/.315, but he did go 2-for-6 in a brief four-game stint with the Indians a few weeks ago.