The Cleveland Indians have long been a desired trade partner for a number of MLB teams due to their surplus of pitchers. This time the New York Yankees have joined the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays in pursuit of Cleveland's starters.
The latest rumors suggest all three clubs are in "preliminary" talks with the Indians and that Cleveland is in search of an everyday outfielder likely due to the injury to Michael Brantley, according to FOX Sports' Jon Morosi.
"The Indians are the rare team holding six bona-fide starters this early in the offseason: Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Danny Salazar, Cody Anderson, Trevor Bauer and Josh Tomlin. New general manager Mike Chernoff can use one as currency on the trade market," writes Morosi.
Both the Dodgers and Blue Jays inquired about Cleveland's starters before the July 31 trade deadline, but nothing ever came to fruition. The Chicago Cubs were also another team looking to trade with the Indians, but now the Yankees have entered the discussion because of their surplus of outfielders and need for starting pitching.
Morosi provides a detailed breakdown of what each team could surrender for one of Cleveland's talented starters.
Dodgers: Carl Crawford, Andre Ethier, Yasiel Puig and Scott Van Slyke (Los Angeles would probably have to eat a big portion of Crawford's and Ethier's salaries)
Blue Jays*: Dalton Pompey and Kevin Pillar
Yankees: Brett Gardner
*Former Indians president of baseball operations Mark Shapiro is now the president and CEO of the Blue Jays
Perhaps the Dodgers would also be willing to move Joc Pederson and the Yankees might consider parting ways with prospect Aaron Judge if the talks reached that point.
The Indians' starters that were particularly drawing interest during the season were Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar. The two are under club control at a bargain rate through at least 2018. Carrasco has two team options for the 2019 and 2020 seasons and Salazar will hit free agency for the first time in his career after 2020.
In this day and age when pitchers such as Max Scherzer and David Price are commanding $200 million in free agency, pitchers such as Carrasco (3.63 ERA in 30 starts last season) and Salazar (3.66 ERA in 60 career starts) are viewed as gems due to their talent and price tag. Kluber is a bargain as well, but he just signed a $38.5 million deal last offseason and took a step back in 2015.
The Yankees remain perhaps the most interesting trade partner as it appears Brett Gardner is on the trade block after the team acquired Aaron Hicks from the Minnesota Twins. Gardner would provide the Indians with a versatile outfielder during Brantley's absence and give Terry Francona flexibility in the outfield when Brantley returns.
But Puig would also be an intriguing acquisition for the Indians since a change of scenery as well as less of a spotlight could get him back on trade.
If no deals happen over the next couple of weeks, expect talks to accelerate at the Winter Meetings.
