Tribe Gets Smith and Valbuena in Three Way Trade with Mets and Mariners

By Bill Jordan
Updated: December 11, 2008

The Indians struck a three team deal yesterday with the Mets and Mariners involving seven players, the big name being former Mariner closer J.J. Putz who is now a Met. Here’s how the trade breaks down:

The Indians get: Pitcher Joe Smith from the Mets and infielder Luis Valbuena from the Mariners.

Smith, a third round draftee from 2006, appeared in 82 games last season as a reliever for the Mets where he went 6-3 struck out 52 and had an ERA of 3.55.

Valbuena made his debut in the majors last September and played in just 18 games with the Mariners. He finished with five doubles, one RBI and a .245 batting average in 49 at bats.

The Mets get: J.J. Putz, fellow pitcher Sean Green and outfielder Jeremy Reed from the Mariners.

The Mariners get: Pitchers Aaron Heilman, Jason Vargas and Maikel Cleto, outfielders Endy Chavez and Ezequiel Carrera and utility man Mike Carp from the Mets as well as outfielder Franklin Gutierrez from the Indians.

Guttierrez had been an everyday outfielder for the Indians during the past two seasons when he played a combined 234 games. His lifetime batting average is .258, but he batted just .248 with 26 doubles, eight homeruns and 41 RBI last season.

Bill Jordan is a contributor to BaseballReflections.com. He can he reached by e-mail at [email protected].