Cleveland sends Bauers to Mariners in trade

The Indians have officially parted ways with Jake Bauers, as they announced on Thursday that he has been traded to Seattle in exchange for a player to be named later or cash. Bauers was designated for assignment on Saturday.

The Indians had given Bauers as much time as they could to get settled into their lineup. He struggled in 2019 after he was traded from Tampa Bay and remained at the alternate training site for the entire 2020 season. But because he was out of options this year, the team wanted to make sure it gave him a fair look before cutting ties.

“Sometimes when you get traded from your first team, it's a little bit hard because that feels like family,” Indians manager Terry Francona said on Saturday. “I think Jake felt that a little bit when he came over here. Sometimes things just don't click the way you wanted them to. That doesn't mean they won't. As I said earlier, I just didn't know that it was going to happen with us, not with the timetable we were looking for.”

Bauers was batting .190 with two home runs and six RBIs in 43 games for the Indians this season. The 25-year-old left-handed hitter is a career .211 hitter with 25 homers and 97 RBIs in 256 games across three big league seasons with the Rays and Indians. On Saturday, Cleveland made the decision to try Bobby Bradley at first, thus designating Bauers for assignment.

Bauers will suit up for the Mariners on Thursday in Detroit, but it won’t be long until he’s back in Cleveland. Seattle’s next stop is a three-game set at Progressive Field from Friday-Sunday.