Trevor Bauer Reportedly Traded from Indians to Reds; Yasiel Puig Goes to CLE

In a surprise move, the Cleveland Indians have traded All-Star pitcher Trevor Bauer to the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN.

Cleveland will receive an upgrade in the outfield in Yasiel Puig, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network.

The San Diego Padres are also involved in the trade as part of a three-team deal. Fox Sports provided a breakdown of the full trade:

Bauer is having another strong season after a Cy Young-caliber performance in 2018. The former first-round pick had a career-low 2.21 ERA and set personal bests in strikeouts (221), strikeouts per nine innings (11.3), strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.88) and WHIP (1.089) last year.

The 28-year-old has followed that up by posting a 3.79 ERA with 185 strikeouts in an MLB-high 156.2 innings through 24 starts in 2019.

Trading an asset like Bauer at this point—he still has one more year of team control remaining—is an unusual decision for a Cleveland franchise in the thick of a playoff race. There are certainly non-baseball factors that must be considered to understand the deal.

Bauer is making $13 million in 2019 after winning his arbitration case during the offseason. He figures to be in line for another salary bump in his final year of arbitration next year.

Cleveland was very tight with its wallet last offseason because of a payroll crunch after rising costs the previous two years.

After ending 2017 with a franchise-record $151.8 million in payroll on their 40-man roster, the Indians ended 2018 with $150.8 million. They made the decision not to tender a qualifying offer to All-Star outfielder Michael Brantley or relievers Andrew Miller and Cody Allen.

During the offseason, Cleveland shed the salaries of Edwin Encarnacion and Yonder Alonso in separate trades.

Trading Bauer when his value has never been higher is a way for Cleveland to bring back assets that can keep the team competing for a playoff spot and avoid taking the payroll even higher.

It also helps that the Indians have a solid rotation in place, even without Bauer. Mike Clevinger is still working his way back into form after missing two months with a back injury. Shane Bieber was named to the American League All-Star team, winning MVP for the Midsummer Classic after striking out the side in the fifth inning.

On the other end, the Reds have added one of the best strikeout pitchers in MLB during the prime of his career.

Bauer is also one of the most durable pitchers in MLB. Last season marked the first time in his career that he spent time on the injured list. He has made at least 26 starts in each of the past five years.

The Reds are making a bold move in an attempt to boost what's been a surprising rotation in 2019. They rank fifth in MLB with a 3.98 ERA entering Tuesday. They are still six games under .500, 6.5 games back in the National League Central and wild-card races.

Dealing for Bauer may not be enough to get Cincinnati over the hump this season, but it does set up the team for what could be an interesting 2020. He will lead a rotation that also has Sonny Gray, Luis Castillo and Anthony DeSclafani under contract next year.

Bauer gives the Reds a front-line starter who can eat a lot of innings. If the lineup, led by Eugenio Suarez, Nick Senzel and Jesse Winker, can add more depth in the offseason, suddenly this will be a formidable team capable of competing with the top teams in its division.

Puig is the big name in the deal going to Cleveland as someone who can help upgrade the offense for the potential playoff stretch. He entered the day hitting .255 with 22 home runs on the season, although he has played much better as of late after a slow start to the year.

Through April, the 28-year-old had just a .192 batting average, and he was still only hitting .218 by the end of May. However, he has been on a tear the past couple of months, producing a .297 average and .929 OPS in June and July, per Baseball Reference.

With 58 career postseason games, he could fit right in with the Indians trying to make a deep run in October.

The biggest downside is his antics, which includes getting involved in a benches-clearing brawl that took place at the time of the trade.

Still, he provides a lot of offense along with Franmil Reyes, who already has 27 home runs on the season. The two established hitters suddenly improve an offense that ranked just 20th in runs scored in 2019.

Adding in a quality pitching prospect in Logan Allen, who is in the MLB.com Top 100, it's a good haul for Cleveland.

Meanwhile, San Diego adds an elite prospect in Trammell, who was the No. 1 prospect in the Reds system, per MLB.com. The 21-year-old outfielder could be another key part of the team's future as the Padres try to build a contender within the next few years.