The Indians, one of the several teams reportedly interested in signing Nick Swisher, traded their right fielder, Shin-Soo Choo, to the Reds last night in a nine-player deal that also involved the Diamondbacks.
For Choo, the Indians acquired pitchers Trevor Bauer, Matt Albers and Bryan Shaw from the Diamondbacks and center fielder Drew Stubbs from the Reds.
Cleveland shipped Choo, infielder Jason Donald and about $3.5 million to the Reds, while sending left-handed reliever Tony Sipp and first baseman Lars Anderson to Arizona. The Diamondbacks also received shortstop prospect Didi Gregorius from the Reds.
Swisher, a free agent who played four seasons with the Yankees, reportedly has drawn interest from the Red Sox, Mariners and Giants.
The Indians hope they can sign Swisher for four years and $48 million to $50 million, though it appears the market could bear a price of $60 million or more, ESPN reported.
The Indians are working on other deals, including one that could include shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera.
Choo, who batted .283 with 16 homers and 67 RBIs in 155 games last season, will play center for the Reds.
Stubbs has played center exclusively for the Reds. He batted .213 with 14 homers and 40 RBIs, and struck out 166 times in 493 at-bats.
* Andruw Jones is set to sign with the Rakuten Eagles of Japan’s Pacific League.
Jones, 35, became a free agent after playing for the Yankees the last two seasons.
* The Royals signed veteran pitchers George Sherrill and Dan Wheeler and veteran outfielder Willy Taveras to minor league contracts.