Indians Acquire OF Quincy Latimore from Pittsburgh

The Cleveland Indians have acquired outfielder Quincy Latimore from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for right-handed pitcher Jeanmar Gomez, who was designated for assignment on Jan. 2.

Latimore, who will turn 24 on Feb. 3, spent the 2012 season in the Pirates organization, hitting .252 (104-413) with 24 doubles, 3 triples, 15 HR and 71 RBI in 126 games for Double-A Altoona; his 71 RBI were 6th-most in Pittsburgh's Player Development System. The right-handed batter and thrower has posted a combined .840 OPS (.329 OBP/.512 SLG) against lefties over the past 2 seasons at Double-A. In 2010 for High-A Bradenton, Latimore earned Florida State League Mid- and Postseason All-Star selections after leading that circuit in RBI (100) and total bases (230) and ranking among league leaders in extra-base hits (2nd, 52), home runs (T2nd, 19), runs scored (T3rd, 84) and hits (5th, 138). He also finished 2nd among Pirates farmhands in home runs and RBI in 2010, becoming the 5th player in Florida State League history to hit 3 grand slams in a season and just the 10th Pirates minor leaguer since 1995 to drive in at least 100 runs. The Raleigh, North Carolina native was originally selected by Pittsburgh in the 4th round of the 2007 First-Year Player Draft out of Middle Creek High School (Apex, NC). He has seen significant time at all 3 outfield positions throughout his minor league career.

Gomez, who will turn 25 on Feb. 10, split the 2012 campaign between Triple-A Columbus and Cleveland. He began the year in the Indians Opening Day rotation, going 5-8 with a 5.96 ERA (60 ER/90.2 IP) in 20 games/17 starts. Gomez also went 6-5, 4.41 (34 ER/69.1 IP) in the International League over 11 games/starts for the Clippers.