Like most Indians fans, my first reaction to the news was shock. There hadn’t been any speculation around the blogosphere even suggesting that Lowe would fit with the Indians, and the teams’ negotiations were apparently kept remarkably quiet. Not to mention that Lowe is a big name with a big contract—the kind of player who Tribe fans are accustomed to thinking of as out of the question (Atlanta is paying most of his salary and he’s not the ace he once was, but the point stands).

But once the surprise wore off, it became clear that there was only one way to describe this trade: a huge win and a fantastic deal for Chris Antonetti and the Cleveland front office. (more…)

The Indians sent pitching prospect Chris Jones to Atlanta for Lowe and $10 million to cover two-thirds of his 2012 salary. The Indians will owe him $5 million of his $15 million salary next year.

Lowe, 38, is entering the final year of the four-year, $60 million contract he signed in 2009. He went 9-17 with a 5.05 ERA (3.75 SIERA) this season with a 59-percent groundball rate, good for second-best in baseball. In his career, he’s gone 166-146 with a 3.94 ERA and 47.1 fWAR. (more…)