Nationals acquire INF Asdrubal Cabrera from Indians

The Washington Nationals today acquired 28-year-old infielder Asdrubal Cabrera and cash considerations from the Cleveland Indians in exchange for shortstop Zach Walters. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement.

Cabrera is a career .270 hitter (933-for-3460) with 211 doubles, 82 home runs, 290 walks and a .331 career on-base percentage in 914 games, spent exclusively with the Indians, spanning eight seasons (2007-14).

A two-time All-Star, Cabrera represented the Indians in the 2011 and 2012 All-Star games. His initial All-Star citation came in his finest offensive season, as he hit .273 and establishing career highs with 25 home runs, 60 extra-base hits and 92 RBI to garner a 2011 AL Silver Slugger citation. His on-field contributions have twice helped the Indians qualify for the postseason (2007, 2013).

A switch hitter, Cabrera performs almost evenly against both left and right-handed pitching. Although Cabrera has hit more than three times as many home runs against right-handed pitching (62 to 20), he owns a higher career OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) against lefthanders (.753 vs. left, .737 vs. right).

Cabrera has hit 11 home runs in 73 career games against competition from the National League.

Cabrera was batting .246 with 33 extra-base hits, including 22 doubles, at the time of the trade. With nine, he is just one home run shy of registering his fourth consecutive double-digit homer campaign.

Defensively, Cabrera has spent the vast majority of his career as a shortstop (730 games, .974 fielding percentage), but he has also played 162 games (149 starts) and amassed a .994 fielding percentage as a second baseman during his career with Cleveland.

Walters, 24, has hit .234 with three home runs and six RBI in 40 games for the Nationals the last two seasons. The switch-hitting Walters was originally acquired from the Diamondbacks on July 30, 2011 in exchange for right-handed pitcher Jason Marquis.