The Cleveland Indians have signed former Yankee and Ohio State Buckeye Nick Swisher to a four-year, 56 million dollar deal.  Swisher will fill the spot left vacant when the Indians traded Shin Soo Choo to the Cincinnati Reds.  Swisher hit .272 with 24 home runs and 93 RBI's in 148 games last season in New York.  Swisher is 32 and has played the last four seasons for the Yankees. 

It is hoped he can bring a spark to a team that fell apart in August and finished at 68-94.  Since winning the Central Division in 2007 and getting to within one game of the World Series, Cleveland has lost at least 93 games in three of the past four years.   This will be the fourth major league team for Swisher after playing with Oakland (2004-'07), the White Sox (2008) and the Yankees (2009-'12).  For his career, Swisher has batted .256 with 1,085 hits, 209 homers and 673 RBI's.

He played three seasons for the Buckeyes 2000, '01 and '02, being named Big Ten Freshman of the Year in 2000 and earned all Big-Ten honors in 2001 as a first baseman and also was an all Big-Ten selection as an outfielder in 2002.