Indians trade for Brandon Moss; Joe Wendle headed to the A's

The Indians have (finally) traded for A's 1B/OF Brandon Moss. Second base prospect Joe Wendle is headed to Oakland in the deal.

These trade discussions have been known for almost a week now, but it seems to have taken Tribe GM Chris Antonetti and his Oakland counterpart Billy Beane sitting in the same room (at the Winter Meetings in San Diego) to finalize things.

Moss is a 31-year-old left-handed hitter. He had something of a down season in 2014, after playing through injuries for most of the second half. He hit .234/.334/.438 with 25 home runs. Those are solid numbers, and he was far better than that in 2013. He will likely play some in right field, and could also spell Carlos Santana at first base from time to time, and get some at bats as the team's DH.

Wendle is a 24-year-old second base prospect. He had a big 2013, but his numbers at Double-A this year were not as strong. He's a decent enough prospect, but with the Indians having so much middle infield depth, he was very expendable.

More on this trade later this afternoon, but the short version: I like it.