Braves trade Chris Johnson to Cleveland for Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn

The trade deadline may have passed by last week, but waiver trades are still possible and the Braves have done a deal with Cleveland. This move will send Chris Johnson to Cleveland in exchange for Nick Swisher, Michael Bourn, and cash considerations.

Braves acquire OF Nick Swisher (@NickSwisher), OF Michael Bourn and cash considerations from Indians in exchange for IF Chris Johnson

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) August 7, 2015

Rumors of a Swisher/Johnson trade have dated all the way back to June, and it appears that here in August, the two parties have finally gotten the deal done. With talk that Johnson wanted to be traded, there was always a possibility that Johnson would be moved, even after the trade deadline came and went without Johnson moving teams. Now, it appears that the Braves have finally managed to move the underperforming infielder.

Clearly, the Braves have once again decided to take on a lot of "bad" money in order to accomplish their goals in this rebuild, because they aren't exactly getting a lot of talent back in this deal. Both Swisher and Bourn have underperformed this season (they've combined for -0.9 fWAR), and both are owed double-digit millions for this season and the next (Swisher will be getting $15 MM this season and the next, while Bourn is owed $13.5 MM this season and $14 MM in 2016). Both have vesting options for 2017, but it's unlikely that they'll see that.

Either way, it's obvious that the Braves figure that it's worth it to take on all of this money (though the cash considerations in the deal will probably help out a little bit, here) in order to move Chris Johnson, and they've done just that.

UPDATE:
According to Mark Bowman, money-wise this appears to be an even exchange. Also, Todd Cunningham has been called up to the major league squad.

Chris Johnson is owed approximately $19M through the end of the 2017 season. The cash swap will essentially create an equal $ exchange

— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) August 7, 2015