Indians Acquire Trevor Bauer

Much has been made of Bauer’s struggles this past season in the major leagues—all 16 1/3 innings of them—for a guy who dominated the minor leagues and has frontline stuff. Bauer excelled in Triple-A, averaged 11.5 strikeouts per nine innings in the minors and has the upside of a No. 1 starter, a guy who could annually rank among the league leaders in strikeouts and contend for a Cy Young award.

Why did the Diamondbacks trade him? The relationship between team and pitcher deteriorated quickly. Bauer has worked out his own throwing and training program for years, and the Diamondbacks have said publicly they did not feel he was receptive to making changes they suggested.

The Diamondbacks’ frustration is the Indians’ gain. Bauer’s fastball is a plus pitch that sits in the low-90s and touches 96, while his curveball is a wipeout offering that earns 70 grades on the 20-80 scale from some scouts. He rounds out his repertoire with a splitter, a slider and a changeup, all of which could be average or better pitches. Bauer does need better command, which got him into trouble once he reached Arizona, but his delivery is fine and he should be able to make improvements in that area. Bauer could start the year in Cleveland’s rotation and might immediately be its best starting pitcher.

Shaw operates primarily off of a very good cutter that comes out of his hand in the low 90s. He doesn’t have a true put-away pitch, but his lively cutter helps him keep the ball off the barrel, getting plenty of weak contact and groundballs. He should work as a middle reliever in Cleveland.

The Indians internally often emphasize a player’s “bat-to-ball” ability, which reflects in several of their high draft picks, trade targets and other acquisitions. Stubbs, to put it mildly, doesn’t fit that profile. He’s an extreme strikeout hitter whose big swing and contact issues are too much of a liability to be able to count on him for an everyday job, despite his defense. His .290 average on balls in play was down 35 points form his career mark entering the 2012 season, so perhaps with his speed there’s going to be some rebound there, but his swing and his approach aren’t going in the right direction. He’s still an excellent defender and a weapon on the basepaths, but he can’t repeat his 2012 offensive production if he’s going to play every day.

Albers is coming off a year in which he posted the lowest ERA (2.39) of his career, though his .226 BABIP is a sign that he might have had some good fortune mixed in there. He has shown an increase in velocity in recent years, however, and took a slice out of his walk rate last year.

Gregorius is a solid prospect who the Diamondbacks highly valued, and perhaps overvalued. Gregorius ranked as the No. 15 prospect in the Double-A Southern League and the No. 7 prospect in the Triple-A International League this season, as he rose through two levels before making his major league debut. Gregorius is 22, athletic and offers plus defense with good range and a plus arm. He doesn’t have much power, but he’s a contact-oriented hitter who produces line drives, though he could benefit from a more patient approach. Gregorius has enough upside to be a solid everyday shortstop with a defense-first profile, though there’s also enough risk with his bat that some scouts project him to be more of a utility man.

A former top prospect with the Red Sox , Anderson is now 25 and his stock has tumbled considerably since then. His 2012 season ended shortly after he was traded to Cleveland after he was hit on the head by an Andy Oliver pitch in late August. He’s a solid Triple-A hitter, but it’s unlikely that he’ll develop into much more.