Cleveland star Lindor gets traded to Mets
Francisco Lindor is moving to a new city and team that is willing to meet his salary demands.
The four-time all-star shortstop – and one of baseball’s best allaround players – was traded Thursday by the Cleveland Indians along with pitcher Carlos Carrasco to the New York Mets.
The cash-strapped team sent Lindor and Carrasco to the Mets for infielders Andres Gimenez and Amed Rosario, right-hander Josh Wolf and outfielder Isaiah Greene, a move Cleveland hopes will keep it competitive and capable of ending baseball’s longest World Series title drought.
The 27-year-old Lindor is a career .285 hitter and averaged 29 homers, 86 RBI and 21 steals in his six major league seasons.
Smoak goes to Japan: The Yomiuri Giants have agreed to a deal with first baseman Justin Smoak.
The 34-year-old Smoak hit only .176 in the short season last year with the Milwaukee Brewers and San Francisco Giants.
Brewers sign Reyes: Milwaukee signed infielder/outfielder Pablo Reyes to a minor-league deal with an invitation to their spring training camp.
Reyes, 27, sat out the 2020 season with the Pittsburgh Pirates after receiving an 80-game suspension for testing positive for an anabolic steroid in February.
That suspension has expired and Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns said Reyes was thoroughly researched before the signing.
Reyes, a 5-foot-8, right-handed hitter, played in 89 games for the Pirates in 2018-19, batting .229 with a .295 on-base percentage, .368 slugging percentage, five home runs and 26 RBI.