CLEVELAND — The Indians have acquired veteran catcher Sandy León in a trade from the Red Sox.
Cleveland sent minor league right-hander Adenys Bautista to Boston on Monday for the 30-year-old León, who has split his eight-year major league career between Boston and Washington. León batted .192 last season in 65 games for the Red Sox, but he’s been ranked among the AL’s best defensive catchers.
To make room on their roster, the Indians designated right-hander James Hoyt for assignment.
A switch-hitter, León has a .221 career batting average with 25 home runs and 123 RBI in 392 games. When he’s been behind the plate, Boston’s pitchers have posted a 3.74 ERA.
The 22-year-old Bautista went 1-1 with a 7.79 ERA in 14 relief appearances for the Indians in Arizona Rookie League in 2019.
RED SOX ACE Chris Sale (elbow) finally went for his follow-up visit with Dr. James Andrews who cleared him to begin throwing, per the Red Sox.
Sale visited the renowned surgeon the week before Thanksgiving. WEEI reported the news first.
The lefty’s initial visit took place Aug. 19. He received a PRP injection and Dr. Andrews shut him down. The follow-up visit initially was planned for early October. But the Red Sox decided to take a more conservative approach and give him extra time.
“With the original timetable, the six weeks, part of the reason for that was we were still in it,” GM Brian O’Halloran said Oct. 28. “We still had a chance to make the postseason. So we talked about the early end of the range of when he could be ready. Once it became clear that we weren’t going to be in the postseason, we decided to take all the time that we could because why not? Why not slow it down?
Sale went 6-11 with a 4.40 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 3.39 FIP in 25 starts (147 1/3 innings) during 2019.
Shoulder inflammation limited him to 158 innings in 2018, including 29 innings during the second half. But then-president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski signed him to a five-year, $145-million extension during spring training 2019.
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