The Cleveland Indians agreed to terms with free agent reliever Dan Wheeler on a minor league contract., Wheeler, who pitched in 37 games for Boston last season, will be in training camp with a chance to win a spot in the Indians bullpen. The 34-year-old has a 3.88 ERA and 43 career saves in 577 major league games. He has also pitched for Tampa Bay, the New York Mets, Houston and...

Dan Wheeler (Photo: MLB)The Cleveland Indians announced yesterday afternoon that they signed reliever Dan Wheeler to a minor league deal. The 34-year old Wheeler is a 12-year veteran right-hander who has spent most of his career with the Tampa Bay Rays. He spent last season with the Boston Red Sox, going 2-2, with a 4.38 ERA, while striking out 39 batters and walking only eight...

The relief market is a hotbed for unusual activity during the off-season. This winter, the Philadelphia Phillies got the party started with its signing of Jonathan Papelbon to a four-year, $50 million contract. Since then, Philadelphia’s former closer, Ryan Madson, signed a one-year deal worth around $8 million with the Cincinnati Reds — and their former, former closer, Brad...

Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal has the scoop on reliever Dan Wheeler, a type B free agent.  Wheeler must be confident in his ability to get a better deal in free agency. He's coming off a decent year. His 4.38 ERA over 49 innings doesn't look good, but FanGraphs notes he had a 3.71 xFIP, so he pitched a little better than his ERA indicates. In that same page...

The Indians today added to the pile of arms vying for a spot on the roster. No, they didn’t sign Roy Oswalt. According to several reports the team added veteran Dan Wheeler with a minor league deal. Wheeler is 34 years old, and will be entering his 13th Big League season. He has pitched for Tampa Bay, the Mets, the Astros and most recently the Red Sox. He has appeared in 577...

The relief market is well known for unusual activity during the off-season. For example, the Philadelphia Phillies made a head-turning move with its signing of Jonathan Papelbon to a four-year, $50 million contract this year. Since then, Philadelphia’s former closer, Ryan Madson, signed a one-year deal worth around $8 million with the  Reds — and their former, former closer...

The Cleveland Indians have signed reliever Dan Wheeler to a minor-league deal, Alex Speier of WEEI.com reports. Wheeler posted a 4.38 era and averaged 7 strikeouts per nine innings in 49 1/3 innings for Boston last season. Wheeler made $3mm last season and became a free agent when Boston declined his $3mm team option for 2012. Speier also notes that the Red Sox will not receive compensation...

The Red Sox have passed on picking up Dan Wheeler's $3 million option for the 2012 season.  Wheeler now becomes a Type B free agent. 

Two Pittsburgh Pirates free agent rumors, after a few weeks of little to no news: -Dejan Kovacevic reports that the Pirates have had discussions with Paul Maholm, although a return seems unlikely. Kovacevic mentions that the Pirates are looking to upgrade the rotation, but that those additions will probably come from non-roster invitees, rather than a high profile addition. We heard...

DALLAS –– Dan Wheeler has declined salary arbitration, Red Sox general manger Ben Cherington confirmed Wednesday. In his first season with Boston, the right-handed hurler went 2-2 and recorded a 4.38 ERA. If he signs with another team, the Red Sox will receive a draft pick as compensation for Wheeler. The reliever could have received at least $2.5 million in 2012 if he accepted...

Red Sox Nation received a crash course on Boston's newest reliever Dan Wheeler in the first week of the 2011 calender year after NESN.com's Red Sox reporter Tony Lee covered Wheeler's journey from high school to MLB stardom. Wheeler's story began in New England, and now, after many years, he again finds himself at home. Check out Tony Lee's five-part feature on...

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump. They also announced they have declined arbitration on Erik Bedard, Trever Miller, Tim Wakefield, J.D. Drew, Conor Jackson and Jason Varitek, so they will receive no compensation if any of those players leaves...

Editor's note: NESN.com Red Sox reporter Tony Lee will be profiling Dan Wheeler each day this week. On Tuesday, Wheeler's time in the minors was examined. Dan Wheeler made his first foray into the major leagues in 1999. He didn’t necessarily stand out. That's what happens when you go 0-4 with a 5.87 ERA for a last-place team. Still, the bright spots (12 strikeouts in his third...

The (not-so-) lucky guys? Dan Wheeler and Scott Atchison. But both could be back, says the Globe's Peter Abraham. Atchison's option was for the 2012 MLB minimum plus $200,000. He remains on the 40-man roster and is not eligible for arbitration. So the Sox could simply tender him an offer at the minimum or slightly above and retain him. Wheeler is a Type B free agent. So...

Boston offered salary arbitration to David Ortiz and relief pitcher Dan Wheeler in advance of Wednesday's midnight deadline, putting itself in position to get draft compensation if either of those players leave town.

The Red Sox have 20 games left, including Thursday night's series finale in Toronto. Ten of those games are at home. Ten are on the road. We thought about throwing out 40 Red Sox-related thoughts when there were 40 games left, just to try to be cute. But creativity was limited. So here's 20 thoughts on the state of the team and all that exists around them as we head into the final...

Editor's note: NESN.com Red Sox reporter Tony Lee will be profiling Dan Wheeler each day this week. On Monday, Wheeler's rise from Rhode Island to the MLB draft was covered. A good number of minor league pitchers have stat lines that include inflated walk and strikeout totals. Many of them have good stuff, but struggle to harness it. Pitching to contact is not always a common...

Editor's note: NESN.com Red Sox reporter Tony Lee will be profiling Dan Wheeler each day this week. Last week, Lee took a look at Bobby Jenks. Dan Wheeler is a veteran. He is entering his 12th season in the major leagues and is a member of his fifth organization. Fewer than 300 men in the history of baseball have pitched in more career games than Wheeler's 530, and he's just 33....

The Red Sox made it fairly obvious how badly they wanted to add bullpen depth this offseason. Dan Wheeler was someone they thought would help, so they went after the veteran hard -- and it paid off. Wheeler was on Red Sox Live on Tuesday, and he spoke about how the Red Sox showed interest in him from the beginning, something that ended up being one of the deciding factors for him...

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Dan Wheeler is in his first days of Red Sox camp, but his adjustment period will be short. In a lot of ways, he remains in his element, having grown up a fan of the team in Rhode Island and being a seven-year veteran of the American League East. Similarly, Wheeler expects to be a key component to a bullpen that could do great things, as was the case last year...

The Red Sox leaned heavily on their bullpen this week, and right-handed Dan Wheeler was one of a few relievers who came up big. When two of their top starters had to leave games early due to injuries, the Red Sox could have been in trouble. Led by Wheeler, who allowed no runs or walks in four innings while striking out three batters, the 'pen helped the Red Sox win four of the...

The Red Sox will play 81 road games and 26 different series in 16 cities this year. That involves around 50 flights to all corners of the country, and plenty of down time away from home. Maintaining some semblance of normalcy in a constant coast-to-coast occupation is never easy. Every player has his own routine away from the park, but each one is critical to being able to head to...

Editor's note: NESN.com Red Sox reporter Tony Lee will be profiling Dan Wheeler each day this week. On Thursday, Wheeler's revival in New York and Houston was covered. Like anyone who has ever put on a major league uniform, Dan Wheeler has just wanted to be a part of something special. As his career has gone on and the right-hander has found himself on some pretty good ball...

Editor's note: NESN.com Red Sox reporter Tony Lee will be profiling Dan Wheeler each day this week. On Wednesday, Wheeler's ability to overcome adversity in his early years was covered. Once he had found his niche as a reliever, whether through suitability or through struggles as a starter, Dan Wheeler’s major league career began to take shape. But it wasn’t until he...

Dan Wheeler is the latest addition to the Red Sox bullpen. Dan Wheeler is a better signing than Bobby Jenks for the Red Sox. There are a lot less risks with the right-hander, and he's been much more consistent over...