10:19am: Castrovince says Kobayashi has accepted an assignment to Triple-A Columbus. Reliever Tony Sipp was also optioned to Columbus. The Indians also purchased the contract of reliever Greg Aquino who will join the ballclub today. To make room for Aquino, Scott Lewis was moved from the 15-day to the 60-day DL.
SATURDAY, 8:08pm: According to MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince, Indians reliever Masahide Kobayashi will be removed from the 40-man roster tomorrow to make room for David Huff. Castrovince says it's unclear how this will be done – Kobayashi could be optioned to Triple A if he consents. He wants to stay here rather than go back to Japan.
The Indians signed Kobayashi to a two-year, $6.25MM deal in November of 2007. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but he posted a 5.10 ERA and 5.4 K/9 in 65.3 innings in his Tribe career.
