Releases » from the Oakland Athletics on Monday for minor

CLEVELAND - The Indians addressed the need for more power in their lineup. Now Brandon Moss has to provide it.Cleveland finalized a trade — the first of the winter meetings — that has been in the works for weeks by acquiring Moss, a first baseman/outfielder and All-Star last season, from the Oakland Athletics on Monday for minor league infielder Joey Wendle.The 31-year-old Moss batted .234 with 25 homers and 81 RBIs in a career-high 147 games for the As. The left-handed hitter drew 67 walks and scored 70 runs. Moss hit .268 with 21 homers in the first half of the season to earn his first All-Star selection, but a nagging hip problem cut into his production over the final months.On Oct. 21, Moss underwent an operation on his hip. Moss said Dr. Thomas Byrd was prepared to perform microfracture surgery but all that he needed was a labrum repair and cartilage cleanup, which should make his rehab somewhat easier.Moss said his rehab is coming along well and he expects to be cleared to run later this month.The chance to join the Indians, who contended for a playoff spot until the seasons final weekend, excited Moss. He said the club is similar to some of the Oakland teams he has played for.Theres a great core group of guys and, in all honesty, it reminds me of after 2012, when they brought us all up and we all kind of took off, he said. That next year in 2013, we had that core group of guys and the young pitching staff and we won the division by a pretty good margin. It reminds me of a team like that. Its a team with a lot of talent and a lot of capability and its going to be exciting to be a part of it.Despite the hip issue, Moss, who also has played for Boston, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, finished among the AL leaders in homers, RBIs, extra-base hits and slugging percentage. He played 67 games at first base, 56 in left field and 34 in right for the wild-card winning As.One of the things that attracted us to Brandon is hes got the versatility to play either corner spot in the outfield and first base, Indians general manager Chris Antonetti said at the winter meetings in San Diego.Acquring Moss to solidfy the middle of the order could mean decreased playing time for David Murphy and Nick Swisher, who hit .208 with eight homers in a season cut short at 97 games because of injuries. The switch-hitter had surgery on both knees in August. With two more years on a four-year, $56 million contract, moving Swisher in a deal likely would be difficult.We still expect Nick to be a big part of our team, Antonetti said. Right now his focus is on getting healthy for the start of spring training.Moss is eligible for arbitration for the second time after making $4.1 million last season.Hes glad he wont have to play in spacious Oakland Coliseum, where his statistics were not nearly as good as they were on the road.I love the fans there, he said. I hated playing at the Coliseum. It killed me as a hitter. I know this past year I hit under .200 at home and the year before that I think I hit exactly .200. Ive pretty much made my seasons on the road. Id hit 10 or 11 or 12 home runs there, but its just a tough place to hit. You dont get rewarded for fly balls unless you absolutely crush the ball.Its just a tough place to play, so Im really excited about playing in a park where Ive had some success. Ive always enjoyed playing there.Wendle batted .253 at Double-A Akron last season.As general manager Billy Beane said Wendle would be penciled in at Triple-A next season.The As traded another All-Star last month, sending third baseman Josh Donaldson to the Toronto Blue Jays for third baseman Brett Lawrie, left-hander Sean Nolin, right-hander Kendall Graveman and minor league shortstop Franklin Barreto.Weve done it before, Beane said about making big moves in the last several months. Weve had to. The tough thing is youre talking about players who are really good players for us in a very successful period. Its tough having to do this every few years but unfortunately necessary.___AP Sports Writers Howie Rumberg and Bernie Wilson in San Diego contributed to this report. Nacho Monreal Jersey . 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After a first half in which he thought "the lid was on the basket," the Toronto Raptors coach watched his squad mount a second half surge to defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers 98-91.Nassau, Bahamas (SportsNetwork.com) - The No. 2 team in the land takes the court in the Battle 4 Atlantis on Wednesday evening, as the Wisconsin Badgers square off against the UAB Blazers. Both teams are playing their first game outside of their home arena, with the Badgers winning their first four, and the Blazers splitting their four. Wisconsin has put forth one stifling defensive effort after another, in beating the likes of Northern Kentucky (62-31), Chattanooga (89-45), Green Bay (84-60) and Boise State (78-54). UABs victories have come against Young Harris (94-81) and Jackson State (58-50), while its losses were to ULM (74-65) and USF (73-71 OT). This bout marks the first meeting between the Badgers and Blazers, and both teams will return to action on Thanksgiving to tangle with either Florida or Georgetown, depending on the outcomes of Wednesdays games. Wisconsins Frank Kaminsky has been a beast here in the early going, averaging a double-double consisting of 19.3 points and 10.3 rpg, while Nigel Hayes is close to turning the trick as well with his 15.3 points and 9.8 caroms per contest. Additionally, Sam Dekker (14.0 ppg, 3.8 rpg) and Traevon Jackson (10.0 ppg, 3.5 apg) are both averaging double digits in the scoring column for a team that is netting 78.2 ppg behind a 52.6 percent shooting effort. Wisconsins defensive effort, as it has been just about every year under head coach Bo Ryan, has been exceptional as foes are scoring only 47.5 ppg behind typical shooting outputs of .341 overall and .279 from 3-point range. Factor in a whopping +15 rebounding marrgin and its easy to see why the Badgers have yet to be tested.dddddddddddd Kaminsky knocked down 11-of-13 field goal attempts in tallying 26 points to lead Wisconsin to its relatively easy win over Boise State last Saturday. Hayes added 15 points and Jackson had 11 for the Badgers, who converted 55.4 percent of their total shots, with 10 treys mixed in as well. The team committed only five turnovers, but did allow the Broncos to drain 7-of-11 3- point tries. Despite losing as many games as it has won to this point, UAB is scoring 72 ppg while taking advantage of nearly 19 turnovers per outing from the opposition. Unfortunately, those same foes are hitting almost 40 percent of their 3-point attempts while also laying claim to a +4.7 rebounding differential. Despite coming off the bench, Tyler Madison paces the teams scoring effort, but with only 12.7 ppg. C.J. Washington (11.5 ppg, 4.8 rpg) and Robert Brown (10.0 ppg, 4.8 rpg) are the only starters averaging double figures, although Tosin Mehinti (9.5 ppg, 4.8 rpg) is close to joining them. Nick Norton has dished out 26 assists while coming up with 11 steals. In UABs recent win over Jackson State, Brown scored 12 points as the only player to reach double figures. The Blazers connected on only 35.3 percent of their field goal attempts, missing the mark on 16 of their 21 3-point tries, but allowed just one trey to the Tigers while goading them into a staggering 27 turnovers. UAB won the game despite suffering a 40-24 deficit on the glass, making up for that by outscoring JSU at the foul line, 17-7. ' ' '