Trio called up after Herd win

ROCHESTER -- The Buffalo Bisons beat the Rochester Red Wings here, 10-7, Friday night but will have to get though the last three days of their season without a trio of mainstays. Outfielder Ben Francisco, second baseman Luis Rivas and closer Mike Koplove were all called up to the Cleveland Indians after the game. And you can't argue any of the choices.

Francisco finishes his season with a .318 batting average and will have to wait to see if that's good enough to become the first Bison in 17 years to win a batting title. Rivas finished at .263 while Koplove had a team-high 14 saves.

That should be it for callups until the Bisons' regular season is complete. If the Herd makes the playoffs, however, look for some more roster shuffling. Andy Marte, Shin-Soo Choo, Cliff Lee and Jeremy Sowers would certainly be my choices. It will be interesting if the Tribe gives first baseman Ryan Mulhern his first big-league look after his MVP season here.

---Mike Harrington

Comments

[Mike Harrington]

Yep. I'd agree. Cooper has been a long-time organization guy who's been terrific for the last month but at this point it's all about who's on the 40-man and who's not. Choo is, Coop isn't. Tribe isn't going to risk losing someone by taking them off the 40-man to create a spot at this point.

[Jon Splett]

I think you're right about those four getting the call ups but personally, I'd rather see Coop get the nod then Choo. Choo has done next to nothing since returning from the DL while Cooper's been the go to guy for most of the last month. I know Cooper's time with Cleveland is probably up at the end of this season but it sure would be nice to see the guy get a sniff at the big league level before he's gone.