The Cleveland Indians acquired outfielder Brandon Moss earlier this offseason and now they want to trade another to make room for him. In Washington, the Nationals recently signed Dan Uggla, who was found to have played through a serious injury in 2014.
Once Moss joined the Indians it was clear the team's next move was to figure out what to do with Nick Swisher. The 34-year-old is coming off of two knee surgeries after batting just .208/.278/.331 with eight home runs and 42 RBIs in 97 games this past season. Now, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, the Indians are looking to trade Swisher.
However, it's unknown if they'll be able to. The switch-hitter is owed $30 million over the next two seasons and is currently rehabbing his surgically repaired knees, so his health heading into 2015 is in question. He'll likely be ready early on, but his ability to play defense and be effectively mobile could be greatly compensated. Unless Cleveland would be willing to eat a decent sum of his salary, there may not be many suitors for him. In 11 seasons with the Athletics, Yankees and Indians, Swisher owns a career stat line of .251/.353/.453 with 239 home runs and 778 RBIs.
Cafardo also reported another interesting bit on Sunday. Second baseman Dan Uggla, who signed a minor-league deal with the Washington Nationals over the weekend, endured back-to-back career-worst seasons in 2013 and 2014. He batted .179 in 2013, but at least hit 22 home runs and batted in 55 runs. However, last season he batted .149 with just two home runs and 10 RBIs in 52 games, and there may have been a reason.
"Upon further review, Uggla's demise might have been because of an undetected concussion he played through," Cafardo writes. "Uggla's condition was confirmed by doctors this offseason."
Such news was rumored at this year's MLB Winter Meetings, according to Drew Silva of NBC Sports' HardballTalk, but it has now been confirmed. The Nats don't have a definitive solution at the second base position heading into 2015, so perhaps they think Uggla can rebound and revive his previous power numbers.
