MLBTR’s Jeff Todd asked an interesting question Tuesday morning: Should the Mets entertain trade offers for ace Jacob deGrom? To this point, the majority of voters believe they should at least listen to other teams’ proposals for the 31-year-old right-hander. As great as deGrom is, he’s probably not going to help pitch the woebegone Mets into the playoffs this season.
On the other hand, Indians righty Trevor Bauer may aid in a playoff berth for his team yet again in 2019. Nevertheless, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported Monday that the Indians are “aggressive listeners” on Bauer as the July 31 trade deadline approaches. There’s wide-ranging interest in Bauer, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post.
Cleveland, which happens to be hosting Tuesday’s All-Star Game, went on a tear to end the season’s first half. Winners of six straight, the Indians are 50-38 – good for the majors’ seventh-highest winning percentage (.568) – and have suddenly made the AL Central race intriguing. For a large portion of the first half, it looked as if the Twins would skate to a division title. Now, though, the Indians sit a manageable 5 1/2 games behind them. The Tribe’s also 1 1/2 games up on the AL’s second wild-card spot and a half-game behind the Rays for the league’s No. 5 seed.
An appreciable amount of the Indians’ success can be attributed to the 28-year-old Bauer, which would make trading him in the next three weeks all the more surprising. No, Bauer hasn’t been the ace-caliber performer he was a year ago. Still, though, Bauer has recorded a 3.61 ERA (granted, with a less inspiring 4.10 FIP) and 10.16 K/9 against 3.48 BB/9 over a major league-leading 132 innings.
It’s hard to believe the Indians would be able to trade Bauer and better themselves for this year, especially in light of the other concerns in their rotation. The Tribe’s starting staff looked like one of the league’s best entering the season. Since then, however, Corey Kluber has struggled and missed a vast amount of the campaign because of a fractured forearm. Mike Clevinger has made just five starts, over which he has been a mixed bag, because of a back injury. Worst of all, the team’s still reeling from the awful news that the excellent Carlos Carrasco, who hasn’t pitched since May 30, is battling leukemia.
The absences of Kluber and Carrasco have left Bauer, Clevinger and stellar young righty Shane Bieber as the lone truly dependable members of the Indians’ rotation. Fill-in Jefry Rodriguez has been on the injured list since June 1 with a strained shoulder, and rookie Zach Plesac has fallen off of late. Meantime, Adam Plutko has posted a below-average ERA (4.95) through 36 1/3 innings, and that outdoes even less shiny peripherals.
All of that said, Cleveland’s in an unenviable position with Bauer, whom it will probably lose soon even if it keeps him through the season. Bauer’s making a somewhat expensive $13MM and only controllable through 2020. If we’re to take his word for it, the offbeat Bauer will be trying to max out on one-year contracts every winter in free agency after that. Therefore, if the Indians weren’t in contention, now would clearly be the time for the Indians to flip Bauer. But the back-to-back-to-back AL Central champions are very much in the hunt right now, which could set the stage for an agonizing Bauer decision this month. What do you think they should do?
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Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
I chose A
Pick a direction and stick to it. If they want to win this year there is no offer that would make trading Bauer worth it.
Rays traded Archer last year and got a return that helped them surge last year (though they fell short of the playoffs) and made a huge difference this year.
Cuz the Pirates were the only stupid team to trade a couple of Major League contributors and a recently drafted 1st rounder for a guy with an ERA in the 4’s.
depends on if they are commited top upgrading. they still have a shot at the division or a wild card if they make some improvements.
If they can get in the playoffs they can get by with 3 good SPs which they’ll still have, but to get them help with an MLB ready bat would serve them better.
No, trading their #1 starter will not help them in the playoffs. If they want a bat, they got prospects. Trade those.
The Indians have a terrible farm system….the only prospects who could be involved in a trade bringing back an impact bat are McKenzie and Jones and I highly doubt a team likely Cleveland trades either of those guys.
Who is more likely to help them win a championship this year: Bauer or McKenzie?
I’m not really sure where you’re getting that opinion from. Actually, a lot of publications are pretty high on their farm system. I remember an article from MLB.com earlier this year that mentioned that by the end of this year they’ll likely have a top-10 system.
A lot of their prospects are still several years away (so a team would likely have to be planning a rebuild and not a brief reload), but they’ve drafted and developed very well the past few years.
This is an absurd comment. Cleveland has one of the best lower level systems in the game right now. Freeman, Naylor, Oviedo, Rochio, Valera, Rodriguez, Hankins…. They will be a top ten minor league system in the next BA update!!
And who are those 3 other good SP’s? They have Bieber……1. Carrasco has been bad, Kluber may or may not pitch again this season.
Clevinger, Kluber and possibly Carrasco, if not the spare parts and bullpen game will be suffice. They got to extra innings of the Worlds Series Game #7 with only 2.
Don’t forget Shane Bieber.
Exactly, get that much needed middle of the order bat, and probably more while Bauer is a hot commodity. He’s going to be expensive next year, then he’s gone. Do it now.
Who here thinks the Indians have the offensive fire power to hang with the big boys in the AL .
This team was totally embarrassed last year in the playoffs last year and was a way better team than this one.
If a Contender steps up to the plate with a can’t walk away from offer where they can add a top offensive controllable position player by dealing Bauer they have to entertain the offers. Jmo
I totally believe they can retool on the fly and still contend by dealing what is our top pieces in Bauer and even possibly Hand.
remember you need 1 starter for the Wild card game and 3 starters basically for 5 and 7 game series with the days off between games.
Bieber, Clevgr, Plesac with Salazar coming soon and Carassco claiming he will be back by the end of the month.
Considering the Indians have scored less runs than all but 9 teams….and all of those teams (except the Cards) are under .500. I’d say they don’t have the offensive firepower. Salazar hasn’t pitched in nearly 2 years and will likely have an extreme innings limit after shoulder surgery. The Indians have a great BP but their rotation is in shambles outside of Bieber and Bauer.
Yet they keep winning games, and gaining on the Twins. Hmmmm…..
All the more reason to trade Bauer to say the Astros or Yankees for example as both could use starters and have a wealth of offensive players at or very near MLB ready. Then trade some prospects for semi-controllable pitching depth and those series of moves can be a net positive both in terms of prospect capital and payroll flexibility.
Plesac to the Pirates for Dickerson.
No.
Trade a young guy (a SP at that) with 5+ years of control for Dickerson who is a FA??? And constantly makes a home on the I.L. and costs 4 million for a rental. And has a .2 WAR (I think we have this guy already minus the salary Naquin)
Might as well just hang on and trade him in the offseason. If they trade him now they’ll just be spitting in the face of their fans more than they did this past offseason.
Yup. Terrible off-season..
They dealt their starting catcher for a couple of prospects. Rodriguez has already been useful as starting depth and Johnson is lighting-up the minors and made the Futures team. Meanwhile, Roberto Perez has been great and offense from Gomes has regressed.
The Indians got someone to take Yonder Alonso. Which is just amazing.
They traded for Santana.. what is he doing, aside from starting the ASG at 1B? Jake Bauers has clearly underperformed so far but he is only 23 and there are 5.5 years of team control left.. probably a little early to proclaim him a dud.
The bullpen was a big area of concern. Of course, they spent some bucks last year brining in Brad Hand (typical cheap Dolan, am I right?).. and then they pad the rest of the bullpen with a bunch of stiffs like Nick Wittgren. Here they are as one of the best performing bullpens in baseball. Embarrassing. They should have re-signed Andrew Miller and Cody Allen.
The only big mistake they made was not re-signing Brantley. Other than that.. what are you complaining about? The team is within striking distance of the division at the AS break despite battling tons of injuries and the Twins being one of the hottest teams in baseball.
Thank you, very well stated.
They did great with all the trades…. however they knew there’d be a hole in the lineup… My only gripe as a lifelong Indians fan was…. Damn it pony up the 5 million and sign Avi or Cron. They were perfect fits!!! Cheap, RH, Corner bats, Prime years, Good pop. That pissed me off!!!
Trade him to the cardinals
Trading Bauer only if you overwhelmed by an offer makes the most sense. His pitching for another team could really haunt the Tribe in the future.
They can add Trout and Betts and still be offensively inferior to most of the competing teams….Keep Bauers, pitch them to death….kill em with your strength…..
I think the Angeles should send Trout to Cleveland to test your theory. I’m need to see the proof of this theory.
He ain’t goin’ nowheres.
Probably not yet but there’s no way Cleveland is going to pay him and let him play out his last year of arbitration and watch him walk away getting nothing in return.
If they are trying to win a championship what do they care if Bauer walks for nothing in return? A championship is worth more than any prospect they could get for Bauer.
I don’t think Indians can afford to trade him.
First, esp w/ Carrasco out on top of Kluber, their pitching isn’t deep enough to deal a high quality pitcher, at least not w/ the late deadline no longer being an option.
Second, there aren’t many potential matches. Given Bauer’s contract status and Cleveland’s situation, only a contender w/ enough financial flexibility and w/ young and productive major league (hitting) talent to spare would make sense as trade partner–preferably not in AL. I don’t see Cleveland finding a trade partner that will make them better off, at least not during 2019 season.
Even if Bauer gets dealt, it will be after the season wraps up.
I think Inciarte, Duvall, and Bryse Wilson for Bauer could come close to getting this done.
Gold glove CF, a gold glove corner outfielder with pop, and a top 100 SP pitcher prospect. All under control for at least 2 more years and fill holes for the Indians now and the future.
Why would the Indians need Inciarte when they have a young center fielder already that is performing well in Oscar Mercado? Inciarte is hurt and having a miserable year and Duvall has never hit for any decent average in his time in MLB. Their young kids are doing better than these two guys. Indians say no and hang up.
Padres and Braves fans write some great comedy.
@Polish hammer…I was actually trying to come up with a trade that could help both teams. I forgot about the Indians bringing up Mercado though, so that cancels out Inciarte.
The offer provided the Indians 2 gold glove outfielders, one with 30 hr power on his resume, and both with cheap financial expenses over the next several years. Also including a top 100 pitching prospect that is MLB ready.
Inciarte is hurt and not an!upgrade over Mercado, Duvall is a 30 year old minor leaguer at this point in his career and not an upgrade over their platoon and Wilson hasn’t shown anything in the majors and has been fading on the prospect rankings. Terrible trade scenario for Cleveland.
Like I said, I forgot about Mercado. You are right Inciarte is not an upgrade over him. I think Duvall still had the ability to play defense and provide power at the MLB level. He just isn’t getting the opportunity in ATL, only because Markakis balances the lineup. I believe that is the only reason he is in RF right now and not Duvall.
To be honest I haven’t paid a lot of attention to the Indians this year. I know over the winter all the tall was about them needing of help! You’re right Mercado’s numbers have been decent. However, I would not say the Indians corner outfielders are doing better then what Duvall would bring. Duvall would still be an upgrade over Naquin.
The Indians play Naquin against righties and Jordan Luplow against lefties. The two combined have scored 42 runs hit 16 home runs, drove in 47 runs and stolen 5 bases batting .260. Duvall would not be much of an improvement than that if any improvement at all.
Cleveland can get a better deal for Bauer than this one. It is my opinion that the Indians wait until the off season since we are not likely to know how much help Corey Kluber and Carlos Carrasco will be this season by the trading deadline.
I believe you are spot on with that.
Bauer/Cimber/Chang for Gavin Lux and Max Muncy
Lol
Pretty obvious who they need to trade — Brad Hand.
He’s quickly losing trade value.
Not that I’m suggesting we trade Hand or Cimber.. but it is crazy to think of the potential trade value for these two guys, relative to Francisco Mejia right now.
Yep, that one worked out well. I say trade him now. Relievers can be created, good starters can’t.
OKay, Suffer, who closes then for Cleveland and why mess up a part of the team that is functioning well? Fix one part of the team, by braking another part does not make sense to me.
It would be very interesting to see Bauer in Houston, given his history with Bregman and Cole..
In order to move Bauer before the break, the Indians will likely need a hefty offer AND good news on Kluber and/or Cookie.
I like Bauer. He makes many quality starts. He could help the WSox. The Sox could trade some infield or outfield help to Cleveland for him. The Sox need pitching help more than anything else period.
The White Sox have plenty of young players to make a deal happen… But the Indians would not trade Bauer within the division, unless they were planning a full rebuild.
Think the Astros would give up Tucker or Alvarez and Whitley?