Cleveland Indians trade Nick Swisher, Michael Bourn to Atlanta Braves

The Cleveland Indians have traded Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn to the Atlanta Braves for Chris Johnson. The Indians will also be sending some cash to Atlanta, though how much is not yet known. None of these three players is especially desirable: that all three of them are involved in one trade sort of boggles the mind.

Swisher is owed $15 million next season, and has spent much of this year on the disabled list after a terrible 2014 season.

Bourn is owed $14 million next season, and has spent most of his two and a half years with the Indians looking steadily worse and worse, though he was played fairly well during the last month or so.

Chris Johnson is owed $7.5 million in 2016 and $9 million in 2017; his contract includes a $10-million team option for 2018, with a $1-million buyout,

This trade drastically alters the Tribe's future payroll situation, something I wrote about just hours ago. (Time for a rewrite!) Even with the case included, the Indians are almost certainly saving a lot of money in 2016, while adding to their 2017 payroll. (Yahoo! Sports reports the Indians are sending more than $10 million.)

We'll have more on Chris Johnson, and other angles to this deal, over the course of this evening and the weekend. For now...

Wow.