Last night, the Minnesota Twins traded DH Jim Thome to the Cleveland Indians for a player to be named later.

The trade marks Thome’s return to the Tribe. Thome played for the Indians from 1991 through 2002. Since 2003, Thome has played for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers and last season joined the Twins. But the Twins put Thome on waivers and The Indians claimed him. Thome subsequently agreed to return to Cleveland. The Indians became interested in Thome’s bat after Travis Hafner went down with a foot injury which will likely force him to miss the rest of the season.

However, it might be too little, too late for the Tribe. Cleveland has fallen below .500 losing seven of its last ten games. They are now 6½ games back of the Detroit Tigers in the AL Central. Not only that but the Indians are only half a game ahead of the White Sox.

But who knows? When Thome was with the Indians they won the AL Central six times in seven years and reached the World Series twice. He might not be the player he was back then but his presence in the clubhouse certainly can’t be a bad thing.

Earlier this month Thome made headlines when he hit his 600th career homerun.