The Cleveland Indians have dealt 30-year old lefty swinging outfielder Shin-Soo Choo and 28-year old righty swinging infielder Jason Donald to the Reds and they also dealt 29-year old lefty reliever Tony Sipp and 25-year old lefty swinging 1B Lars Anderson to the Diamondbacks as part of this deal.  In return, the Indians have acquired 28-year old righty swinging outfielder Drew Stubbs from the Reds and 21-year old righty starting pitcher Trevor Bauer, 25-year old righty reliever Bryan Shaw and 29-year old righty reliever Matt Albers from the Diamondbacks.  The D-Backs also got SS Didi Gregorius from the Reds as part of this deal.  The Indians also sent $3.5 million bucks to the Reds as part of this deal.

Drew Stubbs will be starting somewhere in the outfield for the Indians in 2013.  He could play in CF if Michael Brantley doesn’t, or he could wind up in LF or RF depending on what else the Indians do before spring training.  Stubbs played in 136 games for the Reds last year and he was 105 of 493 (.213 avg, .610 OPS) with 75 runs scored, 14 homers, 40 RBIs and 30 stolen bases.  He has now played in 486 games in his first four years in the majors and he is 431 of 1,791 (.241 avg, .698 OPS) with 285 runs scored, 59 homers, 178 RBIs and 110 stolen bases.  But, he has some holes in his swing as he has already whiffed 588 times so far in his major league career.  21-year old righty starting pitcher Trevor Bauer was the key to this deal for the Tribe.  He came into last season as the Diamondbacks’ #1 prospect according to Baseball America.  Bauer pitched in 4 games (all starts) for the D-Backs in his first taste of the majors last year and he was 1-2 with a 6.06 ERA and a 1.65 WHIP.  Bauer also pitched in 22 games (all starts) in AA+AAA-ball last year for the D-Backs and he was 12-2 with a 2.42 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP.  He has pitched in 29 games (all starts) in his first two years in the minors and he is 13-4 with a 3.00 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP.  He has only given up 134 hits and 73 walks while whiffing 200 batters in his first 156 innings pitched so far in his minor league career, which is impressive.  He has the upside of being a rock solid #1 or #2 starting pitcher for the Indians down the road.  Bryan Shaw is a fireballer.  He pitched in 64 games (0 starts) for the D-Backs last year and he was 1-6 with 2 saves, a 3.49 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP.  Shaw has now pitched in 97 games (0 starts) in his first two years in the majors and he is 2-6 with 2 saves, a 3.18 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP.  Matt Albers gives the Indians another hard throwing right for the pen.  Albers pitched in 63 games (0 starts) overall last year for the D-Backs and Red Sox and he was 3-1 with a 2.39 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP.  He has now pitched in 300 games (23 starts) in his first 7 years in the majors and he is 22-30 with a 4.68 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP.

Shin Soo-Choo only had one year left on his contract with the Indians, so they moved him for a nice haul.  Choo played in 155 games for the Indians last year and he was 169 of 598 (.283 avg, .815 OPS) with 88 runs scored, 16 homers, 67 RBIs and 21 stolen bases.  He played in 685 games in his seven years with the Tribe and he was 736 of 2,524 (.292 avg, .853 OPS) with 389 runs scored, 83 homers, 372 RBIs and 85 stolen bases.  Jason Donald played in 43 games for the Indians last year and he was 25 of 124 (.202 avg, .529 OPS) with 18 runs scored, 2 homers, 11 RBIs and 4 stolen bases.  Donald played in 170 games in his three years with the Indians and he was 142 of 552 (.257 avg, .672 OPS) with 70 runs scored, 7 homers, 43 RBIs and 12 stolen bases.  Tony Sipp pitched in 63 games (0 starts) for the Indians last year and he was 1-2 with 1 save, a 4.42 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP.  He pitched in 248 games (0 starts) in his four years with the Indians and he was 11-7 with 2 saves, a 3.68 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP.  Lars Anderson played in 18 games in AAA-ball for the Indians last year after coming over in a deal with the Red Sox and he was 11 of 56 (.196 avg, .605 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 0 homers and 7 RBIs.

I really like this deal for the Indians as Stubbs will replace Choo in the lineup and the Indians got some nice pitchers back in this deal.