CLEVELAND: Lonnie Chisenhall seems to be a man of his word.

''I told them I was going to sign; I said it all year,'' said Chisenhall, the Indians' first-round draft pick, who agreed to terms Saturday. ''I don't know why people waste the whole summer when they could be doing a lot of growing as players.''

Chisenhall played at Pitt Junior College in Greenville, N.C., and knew that he was being scouted by the Tribe.

''Bob Mayer came around a lot for awhile, but later I didn't see him,'' Chisenhall said. ''I guess he didn't want to show his hand. There were other teams I thought had some interest in taking me in the supplemental rounds.''

Instead, Chisenhall was the 29th player taken overall. His signing bonus is an estimated $1.1 million, most of which will not be poured back into the economy.

''I need a car,'' Chisenhall said. ''Other than that, I live on a pretty tight budget. I'm not a high maintenance type of person.''

Chisenhall, 19, will begin his professional career today at Mahoning Valley, whose season opens June 19. He will start the season at shortstop and learn the fine art of being a third baseman in the fall instructional league. He played both positions at junior college.

At Pitt JC, Chisenhall batted .410 with 27 doubles, eight home runs and 66 RBI in 166 at-bats. He struck out only eight times.

Chisenhall believes he has overcome the problems that landed him a sentence of six months probation (which ends Aug. 6) for burglary and grand larceny last year, when he was a member of the University of South Carolina baseball team.

''That is definitely behind me,'' Chisenhall said. ''I learned from it and now I'm looking toward the future.''

Chisenhall and a Gamecock teammate, Nick Fuller, stole a flat screen TV, a Playstation 3 and some DVDs from a dorm room during spring break. In addition to being punished by the legal system, both players were kicked off the S.C. baseball team.

''If I have to ask myself if I should be there, I shouldn't be there,'' he said. ''I watch myself very closely now.''

Moving up

Having gone 6-for-17 in his previous six games, Shin-Soo Choo was moved up to fifth in the lineup, not only because he has been a consistent hitter during this brief span but because he drove in six runs.

''I wanted to give Choo a day off arm-wise,'' said manager Eric Wedge, referring to Choo's recent return from elbow surgery.

So instead of playing right field, Choo was installed at designated hitter instead of slumping David Dellucci.

Franklin Gutierrez took over for Choo in right.

Getting ready to pack

Fausto Carmona (strained hip) will throw a simulated game on Monday then begin a rehab assignment at either Triple-A Buffalo or Double-A Akron.

''Right now, we're committed to him making a couple of outings, then we'll go from there,'' Wedge said. ''When he comes back, ideally we would like him to be able to throw at least 85 pitches.''

That might mean Carmona will need three starts before he is activated from the DL.

Taking a few hacks

Travis Hafner (shoulder weakness) took a few dry swings and hit off a tee Saturday.

''I don't think we wanted to take it much farther than that,'' Wedge said. ''We're hoping that he can go out (on a rehab assignment) when we're on the road, but I don't think it's realistic that it will be right away.''

The Tribe begins a six-day trip on Tuesday.

Farm facts

Asdrubal Cabrera raised his average to .412 with three singles, as Buffalo lost a 5-4 decision to Lehigh Valley. Aaron Herr had two hits, including his ninth homer of the season, and drove in three runs. . . . Beau Mills and Jared Goedert each had two hits, but Kinston lost 8-5 to Lynchburg in Class A.