Indians make more moves near deadline

CLEVELAND — Eddie Rosario had moments for the Indians. Not nearly enough of them.

Reshuffling its roster with an eye toward the future with several deals before the trading deadline Friday, Cleveland traded Rosario to the Atlanta Braves, who needed another quality hitter to make a run for the NL East.

The Indians got veteran infielder Pablo Sandoval, and immediately released the 2012 Wold Series MVP.

It was Cleveland’s second significant trade in two days. On Thursday, the Indians essentially signaled surrender in the AL Central by dealing second baseman Cesar Hernandez to the first-place White Sox for a minor league pitcher. The Indians made two other smaller deals on Friday.

Rosario signed a oneyear, $8 million free agent contract this winter with the Indians. They were hoping the outfielder would hit for them the way he did with the Minnesota Twins, but Rosario was injured and never got rolling.

The 29-year-old Rosario has been on the injured list since July 6 with an oblique strain, and isn’t quite ready to return. He’s batting .254 with seven homers and 46 RBIs in 78 games.

“Eddie got off to a tough start,” said Chris Antonetti, the Indians’ president of baseball operations. “We saw stretches prior to him getting inured where he started to heat up, but then unfortunately went on the injured list with the oblique.

“We just never did get to see the best of Eddie. I do think he’s going to go over to Atlanta and be able to help them for the last month and a half for the season once he’s ready to come off the injured list.”

The Braves will pay a portion of Rosario’s contract, easing the financial burden on the Indians, who have been ravaged by injuries and are quickly fading from the playoff chase.

Atlanta’s been in the market to bolster its lineup since losing its best player when All-Star outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. suffered a seasonending knee injury while trying to make a leaping catch earlier this month.

The Braves also acquired outfielder Adam Duvall from Miami on Friday.

The Indians have begun looking toward next season. They trail Chicago by eight games entering a weekend series between the teams. Also, manager Terry Francona has stepped down for the rest of this season to address some serious health issues.

Antonetti, the club’s president of baseball operations, expected the club to be busy and the were one of the teams which made several moves.

“They all feel busy, but today was nonstop,” Antonetti

said. “We went all the way down to the wire. We executed a number of trades but there were probably at least another dozen other ones that we contemplated seriously at different points in time and exchanged different ideas.

“Some of them we felt we were really close to the finish line on.”

The Indians also sent outfielder Jordan Luplow and right-hander DJ Johnson to the Tampa Bay Rays for minor league pitcher Peyton Battenfield.

It was Cleveland’s third trade of the day and fourth in 24 hours after they sent second baseman Cesar Hernandez to the Chicago White Sox on Thursday.

The Indians view Battenfield as a potential long-term starter. The 23-year-old split this season between High-A and Double-A, going 5-0 with a 2.14 ERA in 14 games. He’ll report to Double-A Akron.

Luplow has been on the injured list since May 28 with a sprained left ankle. He initially got hurt while working out in Arizona before camp opened. The 27-year-old was batting .173 with seven homers and 20 RBIs in 36 games.

Johnson spent most of the season at Triple-A Columbus, going 1-2 with six saves and a 3.32 ERA in 21 relief appearances.

The Indians made another trade just before the deadline Friday, sending reliever Phil Maton to the AL West-leading Astros for outfielder Myles Straw.

Cleveland, which dealt second baseman Cesar Hernandez July 29, also sent catcher Yainer Diaz to Houston for the speedy Straw, who will fill an open outfield spot for the remainder of this season — and maybe beyond.

Maton has been used in a setup role this season, his third with the Indians. The 28-year-old right-hander was 2-0 with a 4.57 ERA in 38 appearances.

The 26-year-old Straw batted .262 with two homers and 34 RBIs in 98 games for the Astros. He has also scored 44 runs and is currently tied second in the AL with 17 steals in 22 attempts.