KANSAS CITY – The wait is over.

After signing Carlos Gonzalez to a Minor League deal on March 19, the Indians officially announced they selected his contract prior to Sunday's 9-8 loss to the Royals after he opened the season at Triple-A Columbus. To make room for him on the 25- and 40-man rosters, the Tribe optioned right-hander Jefry Rodriguez to Triple-A and moved Mike Clevinger (upper back strain) to the 60-day injured list.

Gonzalez went 1-for-5 with a run scored, including a single in his first at-bat.

“[Columbus manager Tony Mansolino] raved about him,” Indians manager Terry Francona said on Saturday. “Just the way he went about his business, the way he behaved himself, the way he was a teammate, everything.”

Gonzalez played in six games for the Clippers, hitting .348 with a 1.004 OPS. He also recorded one double, one homer and three RBIs. He was informed he would be meeting the Indians in Kansas City on Saturday.

“Yeah it’s nice to have some good numbers,” Gonzalez said. “It doesn’t matter where you go, Spring Training, real games, exhibition games, you always want to do well. I’m glad everything went well, but at the same time I was more concerned about being on my feet all nine innings. ... I just felt like everything was where I wanted it to be. Like I said, I’m excited to get things going here in the big leagues and contribute and play my game and play hard.”