Just when Mike Aviles was getting comfortable in Toronto, they shipped him out of town. Yup, two weeks after the Jays received Aviles in exchange for compensation for John Farrell, he was traded to the wonderful city of Cleveland.
Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports that the Blue Jays have shipped Aviles and utility man Yan Gomes to the Indians in exchange for right-hander Esmil Rogers.
Aviles, who turns 32 next March, batted .250/.282/.381 with 13 home runs, 60 RBI and a .663 OPS in 136 games this season for the Red Sox. He earned $1.2 million in 2012 and is arbitration-eligible for the second time this winter. The Indians already have Asdrubal Cabrera and Jason Kipnis as starters at shortstop and second base respectively, so Aviles could be in the mix at third base or as a backup infielder.
It seems Mike Aviles was just a pawn in Toronto's grand scheme to take over the AL East. Or, they just thought he has more trade value than what he is worth to the franchise, as they prep for another disappointing season. The latter makes more sense.
I don't know about Mike, but I would rather be in Toronto than Cleveland. Not only because of the strong possibility of becoming a back-up, more because the city just plain sucks. That brings us to another perfect segue to the hastily made Cleveland tourism video...
