Indians acquire Marc Rzepczynski from Cardinals

The Cleveland Indians have acquired left-hander Marc Rzepczynski from the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for shortstop Juan Herrera, according to reports from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Derrick Goold and Tony Lastoria of IndiansBaseballInsider.com.

Rzepczynski, 27, has split the season between St. Louis and Triple-A Memphis. The lefty specialist struggled to begin the year in the majors, posting a 7.84 ERA in 11 appearances on the year. He has been much better in the minors, pitching to a 3.07 ERA, 6.3 K/9, and 3.7 BB/9 in 44 innings of work.

The Indians have known to be on the lookout for left-handed relievers, and have been interested in Javier Lopez and Josh Outman in recent days. The price on both of those relievers was reportedly very high, meaning that the Indians had to settle for Rzepczynski, who is considered a lesser reliever than Lopez or Outman.

Herrera, 20, was signed as an international free agent by Cleveland in 2011. He has spent the season with Low-A Mahoning Valley, posting a .275 average with 1 HR and 11 RBI in 39 games. Herrera was not considered a top 20 prospect in the Indians' system, but can hit for contact and may be a good organizational piece for the Cardinals. He will be assigned to Low-A State College.