CLEVELAND -- When he was acquired from the Padres in advance of the 2007 season, Josh Barfield was hyped as the Indians' long-term solution at second base.

It was a much different story Tuesday, when Barfield was outrighted off the Indians' 40-man roster and onto the Triple-A Columbus roster in an organizational housecleaning move. To make the move, the Indians had to pass Barfield through waivers, and he went unclaimed.

Barfield lost his starting spot to Asdrubal Cabrera in 2007 and has yet to get back on track. Last season, Barfield had an injury-plagued campaign. This year, he made the big league club out of Spring Training camp as a utilityman, only to be optioned to Columbus a week into the season. He's been up and down two other times since, making a grand total of 17 appearances with the Tribe and being used primarily as a pinch-runner.

With the Clippers, the 26-year-old Barfield is batting .234 with a homer, nine doubles, 30 RBIs and four stolen bases in 50 games. He's made 46 starts at second and four in the outfield.

The Indians acquired Barfield in the November 2006 trade that sent Kevin Kouzmanoff and Andrew Brown to the Padres. Barfield, at the time, was coming off a solid rookie season in which he batted .280 with 13 homers and 58 RBIs for the Padres. He never had that kind of success with the Tribe, for whom he's hit .245 with a .591 OPS in 159 games over the last three seasons.

In other 40-man-roster news, the Indians announced that right-handed reliever Jose Veras, who was designated for assignment last week, cleared waivers and was outrighted to Columbus. Veras, unlike Barfield, has the right to refuse the assignment and elect free agency. He had not yet made his decision.

With these moves, the Tribe's 40-man roster now stands at 33 players.