The surging Cleveland Indians have won six games in a row to pull within 5.5 games of the Minnesota Twins in the AL Central, but financial realities mean that the team may have to deal a key piece in the midst of it all.
According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the Indians will be “aggressive listeners” on pitcher Trevor Bauer ahead of the July 31 trade deadline. Bauer will likely make in the neighborhood of $20 million next season before heading to free agency, and with widespread interest in starting pitching, they may take the opportunity to move him now in return for MLB-ready talent in the knowledge that they won’t be able to afford him for much longer.
How interested are the @Yankees in Pitcher Trevor Bauer?@Ken_Rosenthal explains: pic.twitter.com/MmYtTVoTrs
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) July 8, 2019
Rosenthal lists the New York Yankees as a potentially interested party, and their top evaluator, Tim Naehring, was in attendance for Bauer’s most recent start.
This is also the reason that the Indians aggressively explored Bauer trades during the offseason. In theory, they could wait to trade him after 2019, but if there’s interest now and someone makes a good offer, they won’t be able to resist the temptation to take it.
The 28-year-old right-hander has a 3.61 ERA in a league-leading 132 innings so far this season.
