Saturday, June 26, 2010

Russell Branyan traded to the Mariners

Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com reports that the Indians have traded the slugging first baseman Russell Branyan to the Seattle Mariners for prospects Juan Diaz and Ezquiel Carrera. The Indians will also either pay the rest of his salary for the year or send a player to be named later. We all knew Branyan would be traded but I don't think anyone thought it would be to the Mariners. This is the fourth time the Indians have traded Branyan. As far as the prospects go, I really don't know them too well. Both are relatively young, 21 and 23 respectively. While neither have amazing stats, Diaz does have 41 RBI at High-A High Desert while Carrera has nine steals and two triples at AAA Tacoma.

The biggest issue is that the Indians now lose their starting first baseman and home run leader. This move means Matt LaPorta will get another chance at the big leagues after a very impressive rebound in Columbus. LaPorta was batting .353 with five homers and 16 RBI in 17 games with the Clippers.


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