UPDATE: And now Jon Paul Morosi of FOXSports.com says the Pirates, not the Indians, are “close” to acquiring Ludwick from the Padres.
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Last night the Indians and Padres were said to be discussing a deal for outfielder Ryan Ludwick and now Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports reports that the two sides are “getting close” to pulling the trigger.
Ludwick has been terrible for the Padres since they acquired him from the Cardinals in the middle of last season, hitting .228 with a .301 on-base percentage and .358 slugging percentage in 160 games, but he wouldn’t be the first power hitter to see his production plummet calling Petco Park home.
Ludwick has been only slightly better on the road since joining the Padres and may simply have declined at age 33, but he hit .280 with a .507 slugging percentage in three-plus seasons for the Cardinals and the impending free agent figures to come with modest price tag.
This would be Ludwick’s second go-around in Cleveland, as he spent 2003 to 2005 in the Indians’ farm system and played a total of 73 games for them in the majors before leaving as a minor-league free agent at age 27.