Indians' Will Venable: Signs minor league deal with Cleveland

Venable signed a minor league deal with the Indians on Friday, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

Venable, who finished last season with the Rangers, was thought to be a potential replacement for the injured Josh Hamilton in Texas, but he'll instead head to Cleveland to join GM Mike Chernoff, who was a college teammate at Princeton. The 33-year-old is coming off of a struggle-filled end to 2015, as he hit just .182 with 21 strikeouts in 82 plate appearances for the Rangers across 37 games. Venable put up a .258/.318/.378 slash line in 98 games for the Padres, however, and his career .251 average likely provides him a good chance to crack Cleveland's 25-man, Opening Day roster.