Indians' Francisco Mejia: Traded to San Diego
Mejia was sent to the Padres in exchange for Brad Hand and Adam Cimber on Thursday, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports.
The Padres were able to acquire another top-tier prospect in Mejia after dealing a pair of their impact arms out of the bullpen. Mejia came into this season as the nearly universal top-ranked catching prospect in baseball, though his eventual position in the majors is relatively up in the air. According to Jon Morosi of MLB Network, Mejia is confident in his abilities and desires to continue his progression as a catcher and the Padres are planning to keep him as a backstop, but the Indians were working to expand his game as an outfielder prior to this deal. The 22-year-old has already appeared in 12 games at the major-league level, including one contest this season. Across 79 games at Triple-A Columbus, Mejia slashed .279/.328/.426 with seven home runs and 45 RBI. He will report to Triple-A El Paso for the beginning of his career within the Padres' organization.
