BASEBALL : DAILY REPORT : AROUND THE MAJOR LEAGUES : Indians Send Jones to Colorado Springs

The Cleveland Indians demoted reliever Doug Jones, their all-time save leader, to triple-A Colorado Springs. Jones had the right to refuse the assignment and become a free agent, but said he would report to the minors. If he had opted for free agency, he would have forfeited more than $700,000 remaining on his $2.05 million salary for this year. “That decision wasn’t hard,” Jones said.

The demotion came as no surprise, because there were reports earlier in the week that Jones had been placed on waivers. He cleared waivers Wednesday afternoon before he was sent down.

He said he wasn’t surprised that no team claimed him off waivers. “Who wants my contract?” he said. Jones, 34, is 1-7 with a 7.47 ERA and has six saves in 11 opportunities.