CLEVELAND, OH - The Cleveland Indians today announced that the club has completed a three-team trade with the Seattle Mariners and Tampa Bay Rays:
Acquired 1B CARLOS SANTANA and cash considerations from the Seattle Mariners in exchange for 1B/DH EDWIN ENCARNACION and the club's 2019 Competitive Balance Round B First-Year Player Draft selection (77th overall).
Acquired 1B/OF JAKE BAUERS from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for INF YANDY DIAZ and a player to be named later.
Santana, 32, returns to the Indians after spending the first eight years of his Major League career with the club, 2010-2017. With Cleveland, he batted .249 (995-for-3994) with 236 2B, 13 3B, 174 HR and 587 RBI over 1116 games (.365/.445/.810). His 726 career base on balls with the club are the fourth-most in the history of the franchise. He spent the 2018 campaign with the Philadelphia Phillies after signing a free agent deal last December. With the Phillies, he batted .229 (128-for-560) with 28 2B, 2 3B, 24 HR and 86 RBI in a career-high 161 games. His 110 walks were the second-highest single-season total of his career and ranked second in the N.L. while his 93 strikeouts were his fewest in a Major League campaign.
The Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic native was traded from Philadelphia to Seattle on December 3 in a deal that sent INF Jean Segura and RHP Juan Nicasio to the Phillies. Santana owns a career slash line of .363/.442/.805, has 198 career home runs and ranks sixth among active players in base on balls (836).
Bauers, 23, split his age-22 season in 2018 between Triple-A Durham and Tampa Bay, making his Major League debut with the Rays on June 7 after entering the season as the 45th ranked prospect in all of Major League Baseball (source: Baseball America). For the year in Durham he batted .279 (55-for-197) with 14 doubles, 5 homers, 24 RBI and 10 steals in 52 games (.357/.426/.784). He spent the last four months of the season in Tampa Bay, batting .201 (65-for-323) with 22 doubles, 2 triples, 11 homers and 48 RBI (.316/.384/.700, 76G-1B, 16G-LF, 4G-RF). He led American League rookies in walks (54) and finished fourth in doubles and eighth in runs scored and RBI among first-year A.L. players. He was the youngest player to appear with the Rays in 2018.
The Huntington Beach, CA native was San Diego's seventh round selection in the 2013 draft out of Marina High School (CA) and was acquired by Tampa Bay in a three-team, 11-player trade that included Wil Myers, Steven Souza and Trea Turner in December 2014. The left-handed hitter was a MiLB.com organizational All-Star for Tampa Bay in 2016 and 2017.