The Indians acquired right-handed reliever Phil Maton from the Padres, the teams revealed Friday. The Padres will receive international bonus pool allotments in the deal.
Maton, 26, was optioned to Triple-A Columbus shortly after the trade was finalized. He got off to a rough start in San Diego this season, and rounded off his three-year stint with an unsightly 7.77 ERA, 2.2 BB/9, and 7.4 SO/9 across 24 1/3 innings of relief in 2019. He’s expected to fill in as pitching depth in the Indians’ system for the time being, with the hope that he might eventually duplicate his Triple-A 2.89 ERA in the big leagues at some point.
The Padres, meanwhile, filled the vacant spot on their 40-man roster with no. 18 prospect Andres Muñoz, a hard-throwing righty whose heater can regularly touch triple digits. The club’s bullpen currently ranks 17th-best in the league with a collective 4.56 ERA and 6.6 fWAR this year; the Indians, on the other hand, sit fifth-best with a 3.95 ERA and 11.7 fWAR.