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According to Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman, the Atlanta Braves have traded starting pitcher Derek Lowe to the Cleveland Indians.
This comes as a huge surprise and is the first big move of the offseason for Major League Baseball. Frank Wren does not mess around when it comes to improving his ball club.
Lowe, a 6'6 230 right-handed pitcher, has been a disappointment ever since coming over from the Los Angeles Dodgers and signing a 4-year $60 million contract in 2009.
The 38-year old struggled through one of the worst seasons of his career in 2011, going 9-17 on a 5.05 ERA and giving up 70 walks to only 137 strikeouts.
Considering that he is still owed $15 million for the 2012 season, it's unlikely that the Braves got anything notable in return for dumping him to the Indians besides salary relief, although details of who was involved from Cleveland's end have yet to be released.
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