Winfield Goes to Indians in First Trade of Strike

In the first trade since the baseball strike began Aug. 12, Dave Winfield was acquired by the Cleveland Indians on Wednesday night for a player to be determined.

The deal was announced only 30 minutes before the midnight deadline for postseason rosters. Although teams may be able to bring up players from their minor league systems if there is a postseason, the deadline remained as far as acquiring players from other organizations.

Winfield, 42, had been with the Minnesota Twins since the start of the 1993 season. He played 77 games this season and hit .252 with 10 home runs and 43 runs batted in.

“Should the season resume, Dave would be an invaluable asset to this club during the pennant drive and certainly during the postseason,” Indian General Manager John Hart said. “He is a leader and a winner and in addition he provides us with another right-handed power batter.”

Winfield is in his 22nd major league season and this is his sixth team. He played for the San Diego Padres, the New York Yankees, the Angels, the Toronto Blue Jays and the Twins. The 12-time All-Star has 3,088 hits, 463 home runs and 1,829 RBIs.