Offseason Happenings: Could Indians Be Targetting Aybar?

Updated: 9:23 AM

The Indians yesterday completed a deal with the Tampa Bay Rays sending catcher Kelly Shoppach to them for a player to be named later. In the wake of the trade, here is some additional information Indians GM Mark Shapiro shared in a conference call with the media as well as some of my thoughts on the deal and other things:

- Shapiro said there were three reasons they traded Shoppach. First and foremost, he feels very strongly about the young catchers in the system who are ready to play at the big league level and considers it an area of strength in the organization. Secondly, financial considerations were certainly involved since Shoppach was heading for arbitration and a salary increase. Last, he likes the player they will get back in the trade with Tampa.

- Shapiro said numerous teams were interested in Shoppach as he was engaged in trade talks with several other teams besides just Tampa.

- Shapiro did not say this was the case, but rumblings of late have suggested that the Indians were indeed considering non-tendering Shoppach by the December 12th deadline. Shoppach is in line to make around $3 million next year, and considering they wanted to go with their young catching trio of Lou Marson, Wyatt Toregas, and Carlos Santana to fill the starting and backup roles in 2010, Shoppach at $3 million would have been a waste of what Shapiro considers