Brandon Moss to Indians: Latest Trade Details, Comments and Reaction

Given the lack of power bats available in free agency this offseason, Brandon Moss was one of the most viable trade candidates for the Oakland Athletics. General manager Billy Beane took advantage of the opportunity to deal the first baseman.

According to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports, Moss will take the 76 home runs he's hit over the last three years to the Cleveland Indians in return for second-base prospect Joey Wendle:

The A's later confirmed the deal via their Twitter account.

Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle weighed in on Oakland's return for Moss:

"

Wendle is a good year away from the big leagues at least, but played well in spring training, impressed #indians big-league staff.

— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) December 8, 2014"

The fact that Moss got traded isn't a surprise. Beane appears to be rebuilding the A's this winter, having already dealt All-Star third baseman Josh Donaldson to Toronto, though Bleacher Report's Scott Miller noted there may have been more happening behind the scenes with that surprise move.

Rumors of a potential Moss trade started on December 3, with John Hickey of the Bay Area News Group reporting that Cleveland had inquired about the availability of the 31-year-old.

The A's may have been looking to move Moss for two reasons, aside from trying to get younger. He's projected to make $7.1 million through arbitration next season, per Tim Dierkes of MLBTradeRumors.com, and is coming off a season in which he had his worst slash line in three years with Oakland (.234/.334/.438).

However, those numbers can be attributed to a hip issue that required offseason surgery. Hickey reported on October 23 that Moss' recovery time is expected to be three months.

Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images

Moss told Slusser in late September that he was playing through it during the year and it was worse than initially thought.

"It was worse that we thought it would be," said Moss. "The [cortisone] shot should help me get through the rest of the season, but it won't fix it."

If Moss is able to return to his 2012-13 levels, the Indians will be getting a player who posted a .269/.345/.550 slash line with 51 home runs, per FanGraphs. His projected $7.1 million salary would look like a bargain if that's what he ends up becoming again.

At the very least, Moss has proved himself to be a potent power hitter. Even with the injury last year, he hit 25 home runs in Oakland's cavernous stadium. Getting him out of that environment could push him into 30-35 homer territory, which makes it easy to live with a low batting average.

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