Indians Get Carlos Santana, Jake Bauers
6 years agoThe Cleveland Indians are acquiring first baseman Carlos Santana from the Mariners and first baseman Jake Bauers from the Rays on Thursday in a three-team swap. The Tribe shipped designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion to Seattle and infielder Yandy Diaz to the Rays. The Tribe now has a surplus of DH/first base types, although Bauers could move permanently to the outfield. Santana is a switch-hitter that can either DH or play first. He hit just .229 in his lone season with the Phillies but had a .352 on-base percentage, 24 home runs and 86 RBI. Although he's not the most attractive first base power type, he's a little more attractive going back to Cleveland in a solid lineup. He's most valuable in OBP leagues. Bauers hit .201/.316/.384 with 11 home runs, 48 RBI and six steals in his rookie season and will be a nice late-round target as corner infield depth. The trade of Diaz might signal that Jose Ramirez will return to the hot corner in 2019, with Jason Kipnis starting at the keystone.
Source: MLB.com
Source: MLB.com