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Trevor Bauer was dealt Tuesday in a multi-player deal with the Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Reds. In return, the Diamondbacks acquired Didi Gregorius, Tony Sipp and Lars Anderson (AP File Photo)
Where there's smoke, well, typically there's fire.

Especially when it comes to a trade rumor regarding a team run by Kevin Towers.

During last week's Winter Meetings in Nashville, Towers was rumored to be interested in a young shortstop, primarily Asdrubal Cabrera of the Cleveland Indians.

Tuesday night, Towers completed a multiplayer deal with the Indians for a shortstop, but it wasn't Cabrera. The Arizona Diamondbacks acquired shortstop Didi Gregorius, left-handed pitcher Tony Sipp and first baseman Lars Anderson in a three-team deal with the Indians and Cincinnati Reds.

In return, the club traded pitching phenom and former No. 3 overall pick Trevor Bauer along with relievers Bryan Shaw and Matt Albers to Cleveland.

"We are very excited that we were able to acquire what we think is one of the premiere young shortstops in the game in Didi Gregorius," Towers said in a conference call Tuesday night.

While he was thrilled to add at positions of need, Towers admitted there was a definite cost to making the deal.

"We had to move some good bullpen arms and one of our premiere arms in Trevor Bauer," said Towers. "But, hopefully this is a deal that works for both Chris [Antonetti], Walt [Jocketty] and myself."

Bauer, who was drafted in 2011 out of UCLA, pitched just 16 1/3 career innings with Arizona in 2012. He recorded a 1-2 record with a 6.06 ERA. While he did excel in the minors -- winning the organization's Pitcher of the Year award last season -- the front office's frustration over the 21-year-old's perceived lack of maturity was apparent this off-season.

Speaking with Arizona Sports 620's Burns & Gambo on October 3, Diamondbacks managing general partner Ken Kendrick was not bashful in his assessment of Bauer.

"I will say this: he is the employee, and in an employer/employee situation it's incumbent on the employee to make adjustments to satisfy the needs of his employer," Kendrick said. "And I hope and trust that that will occur."

In return for Bauer, the D-backs have added a young, controllable shortstop to add even more depth at a position that already includes Cliff Pennington, John McDonald and Willie Bloomquist.

Gregorius, a 22-year-old Dutch shortstop, played in 129 games in the Cincinnati Reds organization last season. Between Double-A Pensacola and Triple-A Louisville, Gregorius hit .265 with seven home runs, 54 RBI and 70 runs.

The native of Amsterdam was called up in September and batted .300 in 20 career plate appearances.

Going into the 2012 season, Baseball America ranked the defensive-minded Gregorius as the No. 8 prospect in the Reds' farm system.

He is also already familiar with the Valley having played 15 games with the Peoria Javelinas in the Arizona Fall League this year. He batted .284 with eight RBI.

Gregorius was acquired earlier in the evening from Cincinnati, as the Indians shipped off outfielder Shin-Soo Choo and infielder Jason Donald to the Reds.

Sipp also provides Towers and Co. with the big left-handed arm they were looking for to round out their deep bullpen. In 63 appearances, Sipp had 1-2 record with a 4.42 ERA in 2012.

Anderson was a 16th-round draft selection by the Boston Red Sox back in 2006 but has struggled in his limited big league opportunities. In 56 career plate appearances, Anderson has a .167 batting average with four RBI. He was called up in early April by the Red Sox last season but was traded to Cleveland in May to make room for prospect Will Middlebrooks.

In 18 games with Triple-A Columbus, Anderson had just 11 hits and seven RBI. Heading into spring training, he will likely compete for time backing up Paul Goldschmidt with fellow left-handed bats Eric Hinske and Kila Ka'aihue.

"We think we are a better ball club today and in the future for making this deal," said Towers.

The other two pieces the D-backs gave up in the deal -- Shaw and Albers -- came out of an already right-handed heavy bullpen.

In parts of two seasons with Arizona, Shaw, a former second-round pick by the organization back in 2008, compiled a 2-6 record with a 3.18 ERA.

Albers was acquired at the trade deadline in a deal with the Red Sox that sent Craig Breslow to Boston. Albers made 23 appearances with the D-backs and had a 1-1 record with a 2.57 ERA.

The deal marks the second time in as many years Towers has parted with one of the organization's top pitching prospects. Last December, Towers sent former first-round draft pick Jarrod Parker, Colin Cowgill and Ryan Cook to the Oakland Athletics for Trevor Cahill.

25 Comments   |   Join the conversation »
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  • Abuse
    redstick88 wrote...
    seriously
    I dont get you towers we were looking for an upgrade, idk but it seems like its a down grade to me. I know im not an expert or anything but it seems like we lost a prospect with a ton of upside and gained one with an average upside. Idk we will see what happens i hope it works out.
  • Abuse
    Jarrod P. wrote...
    I Will Hold Judgement
    They get the solid left hander now in the pen. Maybe they know something about Bauer we dont/ I will wait and see what happens before I call out KT. They get 2 decent prospects back, one potential long term ss
  • Abuse
    desertstorm wrote...
    Thank everything Holy it wasn't Upton
    Bauer is a headcase with a delivery/mechanics that won't last in the bigs. Gregorious is the future shortstop we needed and we didn't have to give up Upton for one of the Texas SS's. I say it's a win to keep Skaggs over Bauer.
  • Abuse
    azfan4life wrote...
    Im sorry
    This is a terrible trade. We pretty much gave Bauer away for nothing, all we got was a veteran lefty a backup first basemen at best and a scrub ss. Bauer is going to be an ace in cleveland and its going to be hard to watch just like it is for Parker.
  • Abuse
    aznative97 wrote...
    I don't know about this
    I respect Towers as a GM, but seems to me they gave up on Bauer too soon. I mean maybe this SS from the Reds will be a stud, but he was only their 8th best prospect heading into 2012? I would think a #3 draft pick from just a couple years ago could fetch more than that. did bauers stock drop that much after a handful of MLB starts? i hope this does not come back to haunt the snakes.
  • Abuse
    D-BROKE wrote...
    Twilight Zone
    That's what K.T. must be living in. Even if Bauer was not a fit here, why the rush to trade him? This so called up and coming S.S. the D-Back got in return isn't in the top !00 prospects. I find it hard to believe that this trade was the best that K.T. the Great bull shipper could get. If it is the best he could accomplish the D-Backs need to trade Towers for a new G.M.!
  • Abuse
    Steve S. wrote...
    I guess Towers
    wants to compete as the worst franchise in Phoenix...This makes no sense at all...
  • Abuse
    bpickett wrote...
    Nervous
    That this is another mistake by KT. Cahill and Parker's numbers were comparable, but Parker looked better in my opinion. Hope they didn't jump the gun on trading Bauer too.
  • Abuse
    GRANT HILL DRINKS SPRITE wrote...
    KT
    This guy is trading away our top prospects for garbage... first he traded away jarrod parker for tubby cahill. Then he trades Bauer who while he didnt have a good intro to the majors was just voted pitcher of the year in the minor leagues. He might be difficult to deal with but come on! Another defensive SS that cant hit. Arent teams supposed to trade their top prospects for All-Stars? Not in the Dbacks organization...
  • Abuse
    Tony S. wrote...
    Whiners...not true baseball fans
    You do realize that the team has a HUGE surplus of pitching in the minors...not bad for an organization considered by most experts as one of the top 5 in MLB in terms of minor league talent. In all honesty, I hope Bauer has a solid MLB career but in the end, we didn't give up Upton for anything less than Andrus, Profar and Simmons, we add solid depth and options at SS and the bullpen. We're not the clear cut favorites to win the division but I still like our chances. So I'll keep your seats warm on the bandwagon when you guys are ready to hop aboard. You'll just have to sit in the back.
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