Acquired OF Oscar Mercado from the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for OF Conner Capel and OF Jhon Torres. Assigned to the AAA Columbus roster.
Designated OF Johnny Field for assignment.
Mercado, 23, has spent the entire 2018 season with the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds, batting .285 (109-for-382) with 21 doubles, 1 triple, 8 home runs and 42 RBI in 100 games (.351/.408/.759). He currently leads the Pacific Coast League in stolen bases (31-for-39), 2nd in runs (73) and T4th in hits (109). He is leading the Cardinals system in steals and runs currently and his .351 on-base pct. is a professional career-high. Oscar is currently rated the 10th overall prospect in the Cardinals system according to MLB.com. Mercado has appeared in 89 games in center field, 7 games in left and 2 games in right in Memphis.
The Tampa, FL native was St. Louis' second round selection (57th overall) in the 2013 First-Year Player Draft and owns a six-year professional career average of .252 (550-2181) with 190 steals in 564 games. He played for Team Colombia in the 2017 World Baseball Classic. The converted shortstop has led his respective league in steals three times over his career and was a midseason all-star in 2014, 2015 and 2017.
Said Indians President of Baseball Operations CHRIS ANTONETTI of Mercado: "We are excited to acquire Oscar. He can impact the game in multiple ways with his hit-ability and above-average speed, which plays both on defense and on the bases. He's a player we liked in the draft and have followed closely throughout his professional career with the Cardinals. He bolsters our organizational outfield depth in the short-term and we're optimistic about his continued development."
Capel has spent the 2018 season a Class-A Lynchburg and Torres has played for the Arizona Rookie League Club (2) this summer.