There was a point in the offseason where it seemed likely that the Cleveland Indians would trade one of their top pitchers. Carlos Carrasco was taken off the market by agreeing to an extension with the team, leaving Corey Kluber and Trevor Bauer as trade candidates. But the Indians shed some payroll as they wanted, which seemed to decrease the urgency of dealing one of their aces.
In an excellent column published on Thursday, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal said the likelihood of the Indians trading Kluber or Bauer is decreasing by the day. Others reportedly say they are looking more for roster fillers than to trade those pitchers.
Kluber is still signed through 2021 at very reasonable annual amounts, while Bauer becomes a free agent after the 2020 season. Both pitchers are good enough and affordable enough where Cleveland should not be trading them, unless they feel the pitchers’ performances will fall off. Cleveland has already lost Andrew Miller and will likely be losing free agent Cody Allen, so the bullpen might be weaker. Maintaining their strong starting pitching will go a long way towards keeping them competitive in the AL.
