Cleveland Indians Trade: Orlando Cabrera to Giants for Outfielder Thomas Neal

In the aftermath of a blockbuster deal for Ubaldo Jimenez of the Colorado Rockies and a clutch three-run walk off home run by first baseman Matt LaPorta in the win over the Kansas City Royals, the Cleveland Indians trading of veteran second baseman Orlando Cabrera has flown under the radar.

In a late night trade with the reigning World Series champions, the Indians sent O-Cab to the San Fransisco Giants for Triple-A outfielder Thomas Neal.

While Ubaldo makes an immediate impact to the Tribe's pennant race, this move is really big news.

It is no secret Cabrera was disgruntled in his new role with the club. He signed with the Indians to be the starting second baseman and ended up riding the bench quite often with call-ups of Cord Phelps, Luis Valbuena and, most recently, Jason Kipnis.

The situation was obviously sticky. Orlando expected to be the second baseman throughout his contract. A starting second baseman on team in a playoff race isn't exactly all he is capable of.

On the season, he is hitting .244. While this writer will admit he did indeed have some very clutch hits throughout the season, that is not a stat line anyone wants to see.

Orlando wanted a starting role, the Indians wanted a veteran utility infielder. It was obviously a mismatch.

Why the trade is significant on the other hand is very intriguing. If you look at the Indians lineup, you always see a flux of left-handed batters, especially with the addition of Kosuke Fukudome from the Chicago Cubs and the call-up of Kipnis.

This move says two things.

One, the Indians wanted a right-handed stick who can hit for average and power on the big league club soon.

Two, the Cleveland Indians will indeed move on without Grady Sizemore next season. He will not receive the $8.5 million club option in 2012.

In his career in the minors, Neal has a batting average of .296 and had a career high in home runs with 22 in 2009 for Class-A Advanced San Jose Giants. Last season in Double-A with the Richmond Flying Squirrels, he hit .291 with 12 home runs and 11 stolen bases. Now we know the guy has some solid speed.

This season for the Triple-A Fresno Grizzlies, he is currently hitting .295 with two home runs and seven stolen bases. His power had dropped this season but at the age of 23, things like this will happen.

There is no reason to believe his power will not pick up soon. A concern however may be the strikeouts. Once in his career in the minors has he struck out more than 100 times. That occurred in 2008 at 103 strikeouts.

He also came very close in 2009 with 98 and 2010 with 94. He currently sits at 50 strikeouts with 220 at bats. This season he strikes out near one out of every four at bats. This may be the only downside to Neal.

In terms of fielding, he has a solid career fielding percentage of .977 which includes time at first base. In his career he has 55 outfield assists. Over five seasons, that averages out to 11 per season. he had a career high in 2008 of 21 in Single-A Augusta Greenjackets.

On top off all of this, Neal has made quite a few all star teams. He was a Double-A Al-Star in the California league in 2009, both midseason and postseason. He was also a Topps Class-A All-Star in 2009. Then in 2010 he was named to the EAS Triple-A All-Star team (midseason) in the 2010 season.

When you add it all up, the Indians just acquired a right-handed stick that hits for average and power, has solid speed as well as a good arm. He may strikeout quite a bit but he is is on the verge of being called up to the majors and is a potential All-Star. All this for a disgruntled veteran.

This move will go unnoticed but the Indians may have just acquired their 2012 opening say left fielder. Fukudome's contract ends after the 2011 season and it seems as if the Indians will move on without Sizemore. A right-handed stick with some pop is much needed in Cleveland and it comes at a cheap price.

This was a solid trade by the Indians who have recently traded youth for instant impact to the club so it is nice to also see them add some youth as well.

Kosuke Fukudome...Ubaldo Jimenez...Thomas Neal...These names are now important to Cleveland this year and years to come. The trade deadline ends at 4 p.m. Sunday. Expect to see more names wearing the Tribe uniform by Monday.