CLEVELAND -- Seeking to play in the majors for the 10th time in 11 seasons, former Yale catcher Ryan Lavarnway '09 has signed a Minor League contract with the Cleveland Indians and received a non-roster invitation to Major League Spring Training camp in Goodyear, Ariz. 
 
Lavarnway played for the Miami Marlins last season, appearing in five games and collecting four hits in 11 at-bats. He had been signed by the Marlins as a free agent in December 2019.
 
The former sixth-round pick by the Red Sox made his MLB debut for Boston in 2011 and played parts of four seasons there. He has also played for Atlanta, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Oakland and Pittsburgh. He has played a total of 156 games and has hit .273 or better in five seasons, including each of the last four.
 
A native of Woodland Hills, Calif., Lavarnway earned multiple All-America selections at Yale. In 2008 he was a semifinalist for the Johnny Bench Award and the Golden Spikes Award. That season he led the Ivy League in home runs (13), RBIs (42), walks (29), slugging percentage (.824) and on-base percentage (.541), setting the Ivy League career home run record (33).
 
Yale has had 30 MLB players in its history, and a school-record four Bulldogs were selected in the 2019 MLB Draft (Griffin Dey '19, Kumar Nambiar '19, Scott Politz '19 and Simon Whiteman '19). Multiple alums have front office positions, including Mike Elias '06 (executive vice president and general manager of the Baltimore Orioles) and Craig Breslow '02 (assistant general manager/vice president, pitching for the Chicago Cubs). Other Bulldogs still in the game in various roles include Charlie Neil '12 (Texas Rangers), Rob Cerfolio '14 (Cleveland Indians), Charles Cook '15 (Houston Astros), Andrew Herrera '17 (Seattle Mariners) and Tyler Duncan '18 (Los Angeles Dodgers). Additionally, former Yale men's basketball player Javier Duren '15 is in the St. Louis Cardinals' front office.