Tribe gets reliever Wood, INF Arroyo from Rays

KANSAS CITY -- The Indians’ shopping list consisted of relief help and a right-handed bat with a little pop that could be slotted into the middle of the batting order as the 2019 Trade Deadline approaches.

With just three days until the cutoff, the Tribe made its first moves.

After Sunday’s 9-6 loss to the Royals, the Indians announced via Twitter that they acquired right-hander Hunter Wood and infielder Christian Arroyo from the Rays in exchange for outfielder Ruben Cardenas. A source tells MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand that the Rays will also receive $250,000 in international slot money from Cleveland.

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The trade will allow Tampa Bay to clear a spot on its 40-man roster for Eric Sogard, a veteran infielder headed to the Rays in a trade with the Blue Jays, a source told MLB.com earlier Sunday.

Wood has put together a decent season thus far, pitching to a 2.48 ERA over 19 outings. The 25-year-old is in his second full season in the Majors and has served primarily as a reliever, but has also been an opener twice. Over 29 innings, he’s struck out 24 batters and he’s limited left-handed batters to a .214 batting average.

The righty was Tampa Bay’s 29th round selection in the 2013 MLB Draft, and he owns a 3.20 career ERA since making his debut in 2017. Wood has been optioned to Triple-A Columbus.

“We are excited to add Hunter and Christian to our organization,” Indians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said through the team’s press release. “Hunter has pitched in a variety of roles through his Major League career over the last two seasons, relying on his fastball-cutter-changeup mix.”

Arroyo was once a top 100 prospect per MLB Pipeline and was the No. 4 prospect in the Rays’ organization heading into the 2018 season. Tampa Bay acquired the infielder in the trade that sent Evan Longoria, who had been with the Rays for 10 seasons, to the Giants.

While he came with high expectations, the 24-year-old has missed the last two months of the season with right forearm tendinitis. He’ll likely miss the majority of the 2019 season, if not all of it, but with Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis in his final year of his contract, Arroyo may be worth the wait.

Prior to landing on the injured list on June 13 (and moved to the 60-day IL on July 13), Arroyo hit .314 with nine doubles, one triple, eight homers and 29 RBIs in 33 games for Triple-A Durham. Over his three stints with the big league club this season, he batted .220 with two doubles, two homers and seven RBIs in 16 contests. He appeared in 13 games at third base and one at second.

“Although Christian is currently rehabbing from an injury, we really like his bat-to-ball skills and defensive versatility to play a number of infield positions,” Antonetti said. “We believe both players have a chance to contribute to our Major League team in the near future.”

According to MLB Pipeline, Cardenas is not listed among Cleveland's newly updated list of Top 30 Prospects, although he had put together a solid season through his first 84 games. The 21-year-old outfielder hit .284 with an .818 OPS, 19 doubles, six triples, 10 homers and 54 RBIs in 320 at-bats.

The Indians announced that they accepted right-hander Kyle Dowdy from the Rangers and assigned him to Double-A Akron. The 26-year-old came to the Tribe at the 2018 Trade Deadline along with Leonys Martin from the Tigers. He was a Rule V pick of the Mets in December and was traded to Texas, where he made 13 appearances for the Rangers this season (7.25 ERA in 22 1/3 innings).

The team also announced that it has moved Jefry Rodriguez (right shoulder strain) to the 60-day injured list.