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Blue Jays land Lewis from Giants

In a bid to add depth to their bench, the Toronto Blue Jays have acquired outfielder Fred Lewis in a trade with the San Francisco Giants, shuffling two other players to help make room for a player they believe has “a nice, solid bat.”

TORONTO — In a bid to add depth to their bench, the Toronto Blue Jays have acquired outfielder Fred Lewis in a trade with the San Francisco Giants, shuffling two other players to help make room for a player they believe has “a nice, solid bat.”

Pitcher Dustin McGowan has been moved to the 60-day disabled list from the 15-day disabled list, and outfielder Jeremy Reed has been optioned back to Toronto’s triple-A affiliate in Las Vegas. The Jays landed Lewis for a player to be named later or cash considerations.

“Just a way to improve our bench, improve our depth a little bit,” Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos said late Thursday night. “Fred Lewis is a guy we talked about at the end of spring training. He had an issue with his oblique and needed to get healthy.”

Lewis, 28, bats left and runs quickly. He broke in with the Giants four years ago, and has a .277 lifetime average. He was the team’s opening day left-fielder last year, finishing the year with four home runs, 20 runs batted in and eight stolen bases.

He had not appeared in a game with the Giants this season because of a strained left oblique muscle. Anthopoulos said he values the player’s experience, as well as the ability to have a left-handed bat off the bench.

“Normally, your better bench players are guys that have been everyday players,” Anthopoulos said. “It’s a nice, solid bat, and he does bring a bit of speed, as well.”

McGowan, meanwhile, is expected to resume throwing at the end of the month. The 28-year-old has not pitched in a regular season game in two years, and has been fighting to return from shoulder surgery.

Anthopoulos said the extended stay on the disabled list does not mean McGowan has suffered a setback.

“It’s just a paperwork move to clear up a 40-man spot,” Anthopoulos said. “It doesn’t change anything. I actually called him earlier today, just wanted to let him know if we needed a 40-man spot because sometimes, players aren’t (offered an explanation), and they don’t understand what it means.

“It doesn’t change his program at all. It doesn’t change his timeline.”

The shuffling did change Reed’s timeline, though.

Reed had been one of the last players demoted by Toronto in spring training, and had just settled into a residence in Las Vegas when he was called back to the big team on Monday. He moved into the hotel attached to Rogers Centre, made his debut as a pinch runner on Wednesday and made his first start on Thursday.

The 28-year-old went one-for-three in a 7-3 win over the Chicago White Sox.

He was informed of his demotion after the game.