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There are still some hurtles to be overcome, but it appears the Cleveland Indians have agreed to a deal with the Milwaukee Brewers to acquire catcher Jonathan Lucroy. According to several sources, including FOX Sport's Ken Rosenthal, the two teams have reached a deal, "three four players" from the Indians would be headed to Milwaukee, and medicals are now being exchanged.
BREAKING: #Brewers, #Indians in agreement on Lucroy. He still must approve trade.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 31, 2016
Source: #Brewers would receive three players from #Indians if deal goes through. Identities not yet known.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 31, 2016
As @jeffpassan said, #Brewers, #Indians are exchanging medicals. So, deal is not official. But agreement in place.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 31, 2016
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UPDATE: Francisco Mejia is one of the prospects going to Milwaukee, per Jon Heyman.
Mejia the well-regarded young catcher is the deal, going to brewers
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 31, 2016
UPDATE 2: Other prospects include shortstop Yu-Cheng Chang and outfielder Greg Allen. Justus Sheffield is thought to potentially be the fourth prospect, but nothing is confirmed.
Also heading from #Indians to #Brewers if Lucroy trade goes through, per source: Ss Yu-Cheng Chang and Greg Allen
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 31, 2016
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Lucroy has the Indians on his partial no-trade clause, which gets updated annually. He has said previously that he would waive the clause to join a winning team, and it just so happens the Indians are a winning team, so maybe he will be inclined to do so. He could also be demanding some kind of pay raise or contract extension, as he is currently signed for $4.35 million this season with a $5.25 million club option for 2017 -- an extremely reasonable contract for a catcher who has been unreasonably valuable over the past few seasons.
Lucroy's approval of the deal appears to be last big step for the Indians to overcome, assuming medicals for everyone come back clean.
So far it appears the prospects going in the deal are going to be catcher Francisco Mejia (who now has a 42-game hit streak between Class-A and High-A), outfielder Greg Allen, shortstop Yu-Chang Cheng, and an unknown "lesser" prospect. Mejia is the center piece of the deal as a 20-year-old switch-hitting catcher with one of the best arms behind the plate in the minors. In 78 total minor league games this season, Mejia is slashing .343/.373/.521 with nine home runs, four triples, and 21 doubles.