CLEVELAND _ The Indians ahead of Tuesday's non-waiver trade deadline made a needed secondary move, acquiring center fielder Leonys Martin, along with pitching prospect Kyle Dowdy, from the Detroit Tigers in exchange for shortstop prospect Willi Castro.
Martin adds some stability to center field in the wake of Bradley Zimmer's season-ending surgery, which has come after a flurry of injuries and inconsistency for the Indians in the outfield outside of Michael Brantley in left field.
Martin, 30, has been having a quality season with the Tigers, especially defensively. Martin is hitting .251 with a .731 OPS, nine home runs, 15 doubles, three triples, 29 RBIs and seven stolen bases. In center field, his nine outfield assists, tied for second in baseball, and his 13.4 UZR/150 is seventh in the game, according to FanGraphs. His three defensive runs saved are 28th among qualified outfielders. It should be noted that half a season isn't an idea sample size for the advanced defensive metrics, but, Martin has played well by most metrics.
With Zimmer done for the season and Tyler Naquin (hip) now on the disabled list, center-field duties were down to Greg Allen and Rajai Davis. Martin has been placed on the 10-day DL twice this year with a left hamstring injury but has been healthy as of late.
And, an important element in any deal the Indians make, Martin is under club control through next season as he goes through the arbitration process.
Castro was the No. 8 prospect in the Indians' system according to MLB Pipeline, a young, switch-hitting middle infielder. This season, he's hit .245 with a .653 OPS for Double-A Akron.
Dowdy has posted a 4.74 ERA in 95 innings (24 appearances, 14 starts) between Triple-A and Double-A this season.
