Petit, 33, has seen scattered MLB action in six seasons. He had appeared in a dozen games this year, logging eight singles and four walks in thirty trips to the plate.

During his time as a professional, Petit has mostly appeared at shortstop. But he has ample experience at second and third base as well, and has also appeared in the corner outfield.

9:37am: Veteran righty Matt Belisle will remain in the American League Central after being released by the Indians, with reports indicating he’ll join the Twins. Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press tweeted the connection, with Jon Heyman of Fan Rag tweeting an agreement is indeed in place.

Details of the new arrangement are not yet known. The Twins’ bullpen has not exactly dominated, but also does not have glaring weaknesses in its middle-relief ranks, so it’s not immediately clear whether and when Belisle will get a shot at returning to the majors.

Belisle, who’s now 38 years of age, spent the 2017 season with the Minnesota organization, so he’s certainly a familiar face. Indeed, he even recorded nine saves for the team last year. That was part of a remarkable mid-season turn for the veteran, who carried a miserable 8.59 ERA through 22 innings but worked to a 1.41 ERA with 36 strikeouts against eight walks over his final 38 1/3 frames on the year.

Despite that strong finish, Belisle settled for a minor-league deal and had to battle for a job with the Cleveland organization in camp. He cracked the roster, but managed only four strikeouts while allowing six earned runs in 10 1/3 innings to begin the season. After being released and re-signed, Belisle has been more effective at Triple-A, but evidently did not show enough to interest the Indians in keeping him.

Belisle, who just turned 38, had opened the season in the MLB pen for the Indians after turning in a solid overall effort last year with the Twins. He was designated for assignment just over a month into the season, though, after surrendering six earned runs on nine hits in 10 1/3 innings.

In some regards, Belisle has produced similar results in an identical number of frames since reporting to Triple-A. While he has surrendered five earned on ten hits, though, the underlying numbers are much more promising. After managing only four strikeouts during his time in the majors this year, Belisle has recorded an 11:1 K/BB mix for Columbus.

It is not immediately clear whether Belisle had an opt-out opportunity or otherwise requested his release. Based only upon his recent track record and showing, however, it seems reasonable to guess he’ll land in a spot where he’ll have a clear chance at returning to the majors.

It seems that Belisle was not able to find a better opportunity with another club. He opened the year on Cleveland’s active roster after winning a job in camp, but was designated for assignment two weeks ago and thereafter elected free agency.

Bullpen depth has been an ongoing problem for the Indians, so it’s not surprising to see this move. The club also had an opening at Triple-A after promoting Neil Ramirez to the MLB roster.

Belisle, who’s closing in on his 38th birthday, had a solid 2017 campaign — in particular, he finished on an excellent run — but was not overly impressive out of the gates this year. In his 10 1/3 innings, he allowed six earned runs on nine hits and a walk. Belisle compiled just four strikeouts in that span, though he did maintain a swinging-strike rate of 9.8% that falls in line with his prior levels.

Beliveau has the right to take a trip onto the open market, having previously been outrighted off of a 40-man roster. But he’ll instead stay with Cleveland and hope for another opportunity to open there.

Though he was knocked around during his brief time in the majors this year, Beliveau is at least a useful depth piece for a relief staff that has endured some early challenges. He also turned in an eye-opening 8 2/3 inning stint at Triple-A to open the season, with a 14:1 K/BB ratio and just two hits on his ledger.

It seems Belisle will seek better fortunes elsewhere. The 37-year-old has surrendered six earned runs in 10 1/3 innings to open the year, with just one walk but also only four strikeouts. He has appeared in 15 MLB campaigns, working to a cumulative 4.20 ERA in 905 total frames.

Belisle, 37, cracked the Indians’ Opening Day roster but has not impressed out of the gates. He has allowed six earned runs and managed just four strikeouts in his 10 1/3 innings of work though he has maintained his typical fastball velocity (91 mph) and swinging-strike rate (9.8%).

It is not known whether the veteran hurler signed an advanced consent clause, but if so, the organization may simply have decided to cut him loose rather than promising him a salary for the remainder of the season. Belisle’s minors deal called for him to earn at a $1.5MM rate with up to $1.75MM in incentives.

As for Taylor, he was claimed off waivers from the Red Sox during camp. The 26-year-old has turned in an eye-opening start to the season at Triple-A. Through 10 1/3 frames, he has recorded 16 strikeouts against a single walk while generating grounders on nearly half of the balls put in play against him.

Davis will return for a second tour of duty in Cleveland, where he’s already established himself in Indians lore thanks to his dramatic Game 7 home run off Aroldis Chapman in the 2016 World Series. Davis paced the AL with 43 steals for Cleveland that season, and he racked up 29 steals with just 366 plate appearances between the A’s and Red Sox last season. Now 37 years of age, he’ll give the Indians plenty of speed off the bench and an established bat against left-handed pitching.

Belisle, meanwhile, gives manager Terry Francona a veteran bullpen arm that struggled early in the 2017 campaign with the Twins but rebounded to dominate over the season’s final four months. Over his final 38 1/3 innings last year, Belisle worked to a 1.41 ERA with a terrific 36-to-8 K/BB ratio and just four homers allowed. Following the trade of Brandon Kintzler to the Nationals, Belisle picked up nine saves as the closer in Minnesota.

Almonte, 28, was on the outside looking in for a Cleveland outfield mix that features Bradley Zimmer, Tyler Naquin, Lonnie Chisenhall, Brandon Guyer, Davis and, once he’s healthy, Brantley. The switch-hitting Almonte had a strong half-season showing for the Tribe in 2015 but missed half the 2016 campaign due to an 80-game PED suspension and hit just .249/.304/.384 in 389 plate appearances from 2016-17.

The 26-year-old Taylor was a seventh-round pick of the Red Sox in 2015. He saw his first major league action last season and tossed 17 1/3 innings of 5.19 ERA, notching 9.35 K/9, 4.67 BB/9 and a paltry 26.4 percent ground-ball rate along the way. Taylor was more successful in his Triple-A debut in 2017, albeit over an even smaller sample (13 1/3 frames), as he worked to a 2.70 ERA with 8.1 K/9, 3.38 BB/9 and a 45.5 percent grounder mark.

THURSDAY: Indians skipper Terry Francona ran through a laundry list of roster moves today, as MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian reports in a series of tweets. Of particular note, the club intends to add outfielder Rajai Davis to the active roster for the start of the season and has released first baseman Mike Napoli, with expectations of re-signing him if he cannot find a MLB opportunity elsewhere.

Davis’s minor-league deal included an opt-out opportunity today, so it’s no surprise to see a decision come down. He’ll be slated to earn a $1.75MM salary with another $3.25MM possible through incentives.

The 37-year-old did not hit much this spring but obviously left a positive impression on the organization, which is plenty familiar with him from his 2016 run in Cleveland. Presumably, Davis will supplement youngster Bradley Zimmer in center while also seeing some time in the corners and functioning as a pinch-runner.

As for the 36-year-old Napoli, he’s slated to re-sign with the Indians on a new minor-league deal unless he finds a job elsewhere. Unless the market is suddenly more welcoming than it was just a few weeks back, he’ll presumably end up joining the Indians’ top affiliate to begin the season.

There were some other roster calls made or at least addressed today, as Bastian further details. Veteran righty Alexi Ogando won’t make the MLB team but will return to rotation duties at Triple-A. Fellow non-roster relievers Matt Belisle and Carlos Torres are still awaiting their fates, which will be decided by Article XX(B) bonus decision day (this coming Saturday).

7:39am: The Indians have agreed to a minor league contract with reliever Matt Belisle, Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press reports. The deal includes an invitation to big league camp.

The 37-year-old Belisle spent last season with Minnesota, one of the Indians’ AL Central rivals, and emerged as the Twins’ closer after they traded Brandon Kintzler in July. In all, the right-handed Belisle pitched to a 4.03 ERA, posted 8.06 K/9 against 3.28 BB/9 and recorded nine saves over 60 1/3 innings.

While Belisle only induced ground balls at a 40.7 percent clip, he made up for it with a 15.6 percent infield fly rate – the 17th-best figure among qualified relievers and a significantly higher number than his career mark (7 percent). And even though Belisle’s velocity dropped from the low-90s to the high-80s as the season progressed, he was far more effective in the second half of the year (1.71 ERA, 3.08 FIP across 26 1/3 innings) than the first (5.82 ERA, 4.83 FIP over 34 frames). Belisle helped his cause by stifling both same-handed hitters (.243/.319/.377) and lefty-swingers (.160/.244/.351).

Since debuting in the majors in 2003, Belisle has fared similarly against righties (.278/.322/.420) and lefties (.266/.333/.422), and has registered a 4.19 ERA, 6.9 K/9, 2.28 BB/9 and a 46.9 percent grounder rate across 894 1/3 innings. Also a former Red, Rockie, Cardinal and National, he’ll now attempt to join an Indians bullpen that was among the game’s elite in 2017. The Indians have since lost righties Bryan Shaw and Joe Smith to free agency, but Cody Allen, Andrew Miller, Zach McAllister, Dan Otero, Nick Goody and Tyler Olson remain on hand in a still-impressive group.

Some more AL Central items…

• The Ian Kinsler trade talks have reached the point where the Tigers have exchanged names with interested teams, GM Al Avila told reporters (including Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press and MLive.com’s Evan Woodbery).  Kinsler has been seen as one of the likeliest players to be dealt this offseason, and it seems like a trade could happen at any point.  The Mets, Brewers, and Angels are teams with reported recent interest in Kinsler’s services.  Should Kinsler be traded, Avila said the Tigers would likely sign a veteran “safety net” second baseman to compete with Dixon Machado in Spring Training, with Woodbery noting that such a veteran would probably be a minor league signing.
• The Tigers are also getting some calls on Shane Greene, Avila said (hat tip to MLB.com’s Jason Beck).  Greene’s first full-time season as a reliever delivered some good results, and he even recorded nine saves after stepping into the closer’s role in August.  While Greene would be another good trade chip for the rebuilding Tigers, Avila said the interest in Greene was “not to the point where we felt it [a trade] was a good thing to do.”
• The Twins have been in touch with their own free agents (including Bartolo Colon, Matt Belisle and Chris Gimenez) as well as the agent of former Twins closer Brandon Kintzler, MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger reports (Twitter link).
• Interestingly, Gimenez has also been answering Yu Darvish’s questions about Minnesota, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.  Gimenez was Darvish’s personal catcher when the two played together for the Rangers.  The Twins are known to be exploring the possibility of making an uncharacteristic big splash by signing Darvish, and the pitcher is apparently also doing his homework on the club.
• One name apparently not on Minnesota’s target list is veteran reliever Bryan Shaw, as Mike Berardino (Twitter link) reports that the Twins “haven’t shown much interest” in the righty.

• Outfielder Randal Grichuk has come up as someone the Cardinals could trade, and the 26-year-old realizes he may have played his last game in their uniform. On whether he expects to be a Redbird in 2018, Grichuk told Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com: “No. Not necessarily. But who knows. Anything is possible. It’s going to be a fun offseason. It’s going to be an interesting offseason to see what direction the club goes with a lot of guys. I’m excited to see what the future holds.” Grichuk has registered decent production across 1,386 career plate appearances in St. Louis (.249/.297/.488, .239 ISO) and put up back-to-back 20-home run seasons, but a lack of plate discipline has somewhat offset his impressive power and made him a trade candidate. Grichuk is projected to earn $2.8MM in 2018, his first of three arbitration-eligible seasons.
• After Twins pitchers recorded the majors’ third-worst swinging-strike rate in 2017, team brass is hoping to build a staff capable of missing more bats, Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press details. At the same time, the Twins aren’t ruling out having some pitch-to-contact types on hand. In fact, even though closers Matt Belisle and Brandon Kintzler (now with the Nationals) generated fewer swings and misses than the average reliever this season, the club’s interested in re-signing the former and reuniting with the latter in free agency, according to Berardino.
• For the second straight offseason, the Rockies will have to work on shoring up their bullpen, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post observes. The Rockies signed Greg Holland and Mike Dunn to sizable contracts last winter, but Holland’s now set to opt out of his deal and head to the open market again. Colorado probably won’t be able to re-sign the closer, Saunders writes, and the fact that Holland isn’t the team’s only key reliever who could exit in free agency only worsens matters. Jake McGee and July trade acquisition Pat Neshek are also unsigned entering the offseason. Holland, McGee and Neshek were among the best options in a bullpen that made big strides from 2016 to ’17, jumping from 23rd in fWAR to sixth and last in ERA to 20th.

Settling for a one-year contract isn’t an ideal route for most free agents, but that doesn’t mean that those (relative) bargain pickups can’t bring significant on-field impact to the teams with which they sign. While none of the players on this list received all that much fanfare when signing, they’ve all provided some notable benefit to the teams that made these commitments:

• Kurt Suzuki, $1.5MM, Braves: Suzuki languished in free agency for several months as players like Jason Castro, Matt Wieters and Welington Castillo all generated more attention from teams and fans. However, it might be Suzuki that has provided the most bang for buck on last winter’s catching market. The 33-year-old has had a surprising career year in Atlanta, hitting .266/.344/.507 with 15 homers to date. Some have been quick to suggest that Atlanta’s new homer-happy stadium has benefited Suzuki, and while that may be true to an extent, he’s hit for more power on the road than at home. He’s put himself in position for a possible two-year deal this winter, but if he has to settle for one yet again, it should come at a higher rate.
• Adam Lind, $1.5MM, Nationals: An awful 2016 season and an overcrowded market for corner bats created some questions about whether Lind would have to settle for a minor league contract late last winter. He ultimately secured a guaranteed deal, but it came with just a $1MM base and a $500K buyout of a mutual option. For that meager commitment, he’s given the Nats 267 plate appearances with a .297/.352/.490 slash to go along with 11 homers. Like Suzuki, that might not land him a starting role, but it could land him multiple years as a complementary bench piece.
• Chris Iannetta, $1.5MM, Diamondbacks: Iannetta has not only rediscovered his power stroke in 2017 — he’s made it better than ever. The 34-year-old’s .249 ISO is a career best, and he’s slugged 14 homers. While that’s still four shy of his career-best with the 2008 Rockies, Iannetta’s 14 big flies this year have come in just 272 PAs, whereas he needed 407 to reach 18 back in ’08. He’s also bounced back from a down year in the framing department and been above average in that regard, per Baseball Prospectus.
• Jhoulys Chacin and Clayton Richard, $1.75MM each, Padres: The Friars signed four starters for $3MM or less last winter — Jered Weaver and Trevor Cahill being the others — and have received a combined 345 innings out of this pair. Chacin’s run-prevention (4.06 ERA) and strikeout rate (7.44 K/9) have been better, while Richard has 13 more innings (179 total), superior control (2.6 BB/9) and superior ground-ball tendencies (59.1 percent). Neither is going to be mistaken for much more than a back-of-the-rotation stabilizer, but both have done enough to garner larger commitments on the upcoming open market.
• Brian Duensing, $2MM, Cubs: I doubt I was alone in being surprised to see Duensing, 34, land a Major League deal last winter on the heels of a lackluster season in the Orioles organization. Duensing, though, has quietly been outstanding for the Cubs. In 54 2/3 innings, he’s logged a career-high 9.05 K/9 rate with 2.30 BB/9 and a 47 percent ground-ball rate en route to a 2.63 ERA. He’s held lefties in check reasonably well, but the first time in his career he’s also striking out right-handed batters at a lofty rate. In fact, the .211/.276/.317 that righties have posted against him is actually weaker than the .256/.300/.388 slash to which he’s limited left-handed bats.
• Matt Belisle, $2.05MM, Twins: Belisle’s inclusion is arguable; he’s posted a pedestrian 4.36 ERA with 8.55 K/9, 3.69 BB/9 and a 42.2 percent ground-ball rate. Those numbers are largely skewed by a putrid month of May, however. Since June 3, Belisle has a 2.25 ERA with nearly a strikeout per inning and improved control and ground-ball tendencies — all while stepping into higher and higher leverage roles. He’s now serving as the Twins’ closer and has a 1.54 ERA with a 29-to-5 K/BB ratio since July 1. He’ll be 38 next season, so the earning power here isn’t sky-high, but he’s probably earned a raise, barring a late collapse.
• Logan Morrison, $2.5MM, Rays: Few players have benefited more from one-year, “pillow” contracts in  recent memory than Morrison, who has parlayed his $2.5MM deal into a .248/.355/.529 batting line and a 36-homer season campaign to date. Morrison only just turned 30 years old, so he’ll have age on his side this winter as well. A three- or four-year deal seems plausible for Morrison even with the diminished recent market for corner bats.
• Alex Avila, $2.5MM, Tigers: Avila hasn’t been as excellent with the Cubs as he was with the Tigers, but he’s still among the league leaders in hard contact and exit velocity — both of which have beautifully complemented his always-terrific walk rate (15.9 percent in 2016). With 14 homers under his belt and a batting line that grades out roughly 25 percent better than the league average, per context-neutral metrics like OPS+ (124) and wRC+ (127), Avila could vie for a multi-year deal and/or a starting job this offseason.
• Joe Smith, $3MM, Blue Jays: Smith’s K/9 has nearly doubled, from 6.92 in 2016 to 11.86 in 2017, and he’s posted a dramatically improved 1.82 BB/9 this year as well. Smith has also served up just three homers in 49 1/3 innings of work, and his 3.10 ERA, while solid, is actually representative of some poor fortune in the estimation of fielding-independent metrics (1.97 FIP, 2.35 xFIP, 2.34 SIERA). He’ll be 34 next year but should top that $3MM mark and could net the second multi-year free-agent deal of his career.
• Andrew Cashner, $10MM, Rangers: MLBTR’s Jeff Todd recently took a more in-depth look at Cashner, noting that his strong 3.19 ERA isn’t backed up by his K/BB numbers. Cashner’s complete lack of missed bats — he has the lowest swinging-strike rate and second-lowest K/9 rate of qualified MLB starters — is going to limit his earning power. But, he’s undeniably been better than he was in 2016, his velocity is comparable to last season and he’s limited hard contact quite well. A multi-year deal is certainly a possibility this offseason.
• Carlos Gomez, $11.5MM, Rangers: Gomez’s production hasn’t reached the star levels it did in 2013-14, but he’s been a better performer at the plate this season. A spike in his OBP (from .298 to .337) is due largely to a massive increase in the number of pitches by which he’s been hit, which is less encouraging than if he’d upped his walk rate considerably. However, Gomez has also shown quite a bit more power in 2017 than he had in recent seasons (.208 ISO in ’17 vs. .153 in ’15-16 combined), and Defensive Runs Saved feels he’s improved in center field as well. Gomez won’t see the massive payday he looked to be on pace for after 2014, but he’s still young enough to notch a multi-year deal this winter.

Notable exceptions: Neither Welington Castillo nor Greg Holland is included on this list, though both have provided good value to their new teams (Castillo in particular). While their contracts are often referred to as one-year deals with a player option, that type of contract is no more a one-year deal than Jason Heyward’s eight-year, $184MM deal with a third-year opt-out is a three-year deal. Both players were guaranteed the possibility to be under contract for two years, and those agreements are considered two-year deals for the purposes of this list.

Jerry Blevins has also given the Mets terrific value on his one-year, $6.5MM deal, but the club option attached to that deal is a veritable lock to be exercised, so he’s unlikely to hit the free-agent market again following the season.

Here’s more from the game’s central divisions:

• Pirates owner Bob Nutting spoke with Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about a host of topics as he looks back on ten years in his current role. Nutting extolled the “transformation in every aspect of the organization” that has occurred in that time, describing the wide-ranging changes that have been undertaken. He also addressed concerns from some quarters with the team’s payroll, explaining that spending on MLB salaries isn’t the sole area where the organization is focused. “It’s how we’re drafting, it’s how we’re funding our international operations,” he said. “How we develop that talent, that broader picture of both investment in facilities, people and systems in our development system, which has completely transformed from what it had been and frankly what many other clubs are still doing. While the headline number of payroll is important, and we will invest there because we need to to win on the field, it’s also really important that that can’t be the sole metric that we use internally.” You’ll want to give the full interview a read to assess Nutting’s comments for yourself.
• While the Royals traded away several pending free agents, the club kept several others and obviously signaled its intention to compete with its overall offseason approach. As Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports, Kansas City is still holding out the possibility of finding a way to keep one or more of its remaining players who’ll hit the open market after the 2017 season. Whether that could mean extension talks this spring isn’t clear, but it seems that the Royals will at least consider some kind of play for Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, and/or Lorenzo Cain.
• Righty reliever Matt Belisle landed with the Twins after a bounceback 2016 campaign, due in some part to lobbying efforts from a few noted former teammates. As Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press writes, LaTroy Hawkins and Michael Cuddyer didn’t exactly press the veteran to join the Minnesota organization, but their involvement in the process seemingly helped Belisle gain comfort with the idea of heading to the rebuilding club. “If Cuddy and LaTroy believed in it, I know I would too,” he explains.

[RELATED: Updated Twins Depth Chart]

After its bullpen finished 2016 with the majors’ fifth-worst ERA and eighth-worst fWAR, rebuilding Minnesota has spent the past few months searching for capable relievers. Belisle, who’s coming off a terrific campaign with the Nationals, is the Twins’ first notable bullpen addition of the offseason. The 36-year-old yielded a minuscule 1.76 ERA in 46 innings, compiled 6.26 K/9 against 1.37 BB/9 and posted a 47.2 percent ground-ball rate in 2016.

Belisle was also effective at preventing runs as a member of the Cardinals in 2015, when he posted somewhat similar numbers to last season (2.67 ERA, 6.68 K/9, 52.4 percent grounder rate), though he did record a lofty BB/9 (4.01) across 33 2/3 frames.

The Twins will be the sixth major league team for Belisle, who spent time as both a starter and reliever with the Reds between 2003-08 before a six-year run in Colorado from 2009-14. Belisle was eminently reliable from 2010-12; at his best in Colorado, he tossed a career-high 92 innings of 2.93 ERA pitching and logged 8.9 K/9 against 1.57 BB/9 in 2010. He’ll now aim for another successful year in Minnesota, which will add Belisle to a late-game mix that will also feature the likes of Brandon Kintzler, the currently rehabbing Glen Perkins, Ryan Pressly and Trevor May, among others.

Given that the Twins don’t figure to contend for a playoff spot in 2017, Belisle could find himself on the move around the summer trade deadline if he fares well over the first few months of the season.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

• The Marlins have explored the trade market for veteran relief pitching, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports, though they don’t have much to offer teams in return.  It’s no surprise that the Fish are looking for bullpen help, with Carter Capps and Bryan Morris both lost to season-ending injuries.
• Also from Jackson’s piece, he writes that the Marlins aren’t yet overly worried about Giancarlo Stanton’s struggles and feel the outfielder “is simply [in] a slump.”  Stanton has 12 homers but only a .192/.299/.415 slash line over 225 PA, with a whopping 79 strikeouts.
• There has been lots of buzz about Bryce Harper’s next contract crossing the $500MM threshold, though as Sportsnet’s Naoko Asano writes, some factors beyond pure baseball value could determine the final number, such as the terms of the next CBA or if broadcasting rights contracts stop growing over the next few years.  That latter factor could be particularly noteworthy given how the Nationals’ MASN broadcast revenues are limited by their ongoing dispute with the Orioles, though that hasn’t stopped Washington from making a number of big signings that contain deferred money.
• Matt Belisle’s minor league rehab assignment can’t continue past June 22, so the Nationals will soon have a decision to make in their bullpen, MLB.com’s William Ladson writes.  Belisle went on the DL with a calf strain near the end of April and has been rehabbing at Double- and Triple-A for the better part of three weeks, and MLB pitchers can only spend up to 30 days on rehab assignments.
• The Mets loaded up on pitching in this year’s draft, a strategy Ken Davidoff of the New York Post wonders is the first step towards the Mets shopping Matt Harvey this offseason.  There has been a lot of speculation that Harvey won’t re-sign with the Mets when he hits free agency after the 2018 season, so bolstering the system with young arms could allow the Mets to consider trading Harvey if they feel they have enough pitching depth.