A disastrous start to the offseason has the Los Angeles Dodgers exploring various ways to improve their MLB roster. Previous rumors found the club was in trade talks with the Tampa Bay Rays about acquiring a starter, and now the Cleveland Indians have been mentioned as a potential trade partner.
FOX Sports' Jon Morosi says the Dodgers have engaged with the Indians about starters Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar. He also noted the team is still in talks with the Rays regarding pitcher Jake Odorizzi.
Los Angeles also reportedly spoke to the Indians before this year's trade deadline in hopes of acquiring one of their young controllable arms, but Cleveland stood pat and now the price for their pitchers has increased after the Shelby Miller trade between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Atlanta Braves.
The Dodgers' acquisition of prospects Frankie Montas, Trayce Thompson and Micah Johnson in the three-team trade highlighting Todd Frazier has helped them add more assets to further facilitate trade talks.
However, as ESPN's Buster Olney wrote a few days ago, the Indians are in no rush to trade any of their starters, and could wait until the 2016 trade deadline or even next offseason, if that. Many MLB clubs such as the Indians are reluctant to part ways with young starting pitching due to the rising price for such players as well as the immense value of their team-friendly contracts.
"The Indians will continue to engage in trade dialogue when interested teams call, but they may well dive into next season with their pitching intact -- and in the eyes of some rival evaluators, this could be best, anyway," he wrote.
"The Cleveland starters led the AL in strikeouts last season, with about one per inning -- 969 punchouts in 979 1/3 innings -- and only the White Sox and Astros got more innings out of their rotations. (And the White Sox move forward without innings-eater Jeff Samardzija.) Cleveland starters held opponents to a .235 average, lowest in the league, and the Indians' hope is that with Francisco Lindor at shortstop for all of 2016, the team's defense (and pitching results) should be better."
Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe also mentioned the Indians are getting calls on another starter. We can only wonder if the Dodgers are in on those talks as well.
"There have been several inquiries made to the Indians regarding their interest in dealing Kluber, but GM Chris Antonetti has resisted. And you can see why. Kluber is a workhorse and it's tough to give up that type of pitcher."
Then again, the Indians have a surplus of pitching and other areas to address. They patched up a few vacancies in the past week with the signings of Mike Napoli and Rajai Davis, but news of outfielder Michael Brantley potentially being out until June isn't helpful for the 2016 forecast. Napoli and Davis also aren't exactly top names at their positions.
If the Dodgers can help the Indians improve their MLB roster immediately then maybe Cleveland would consider moving one of their starters, but such a move would be difficult for Los Angeles considering their looking to improve their own major league roster.
Still, don't rule out this scenario because the Dodgers are capable of figuring out a way to get creative. They need to rebound after losing out on Zack Greinke, David Price and Hisashi Iwakuma.
