Indians acquire Bruce from Mets

The Cleveland Indians have acquired outfielder Jay Bruce from the New York Mets, the team confirmed Wednesday. Cleveland will take on the remaining $5 million of Bruce's salary, a source told Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports.

The move comes a day after the Indians lost outfielder Michael Brantley to an ankle injury, leaving a hole in their lineup. Bruce should join the team for Thursday's game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field.

The Indians apparently weren't the only club checking in on the lefty slugger's services. The New York Yankees talked to the Mets about Bruce as recently as Wednesday, a source told the New York Post's Joel Sherman.

Bruce brings some extra pop to Cleveland's offense. He's batting .258/.324/.524 with 29 home runs and 75 RBIs over 102 games this season. The Indians have struggled to generate consistent run production from the outfield all season long, and adding Bruce aims to fix that.

In return, the Mets receive 22-year-old pitcher Ryder Ryan, who will report to the Columbia Fireflies. Ryan has posted a 4.79 ERA over 33 relief appearances in Single-A this season.