The Cleveland Indians have received plenty of interest in their starting pitchers already this offseason, and the Cincinnati Reds are said to be among the teams who are exploring a possible deal with them.
Jon Morosi of MLB.com reports that the Reds are open to making a “blockbuster trade” with their in-state rival for either Corey Kluber or Trevor Bauer, though it doesn’t sound like any real progress has been made.
#Reds are open to an intrastate blockbuster trade with #Indians for Corey Kluber or Trevor Bauer, sources say, although there hasn’t been recent progress on a deal. Reds want a top pitcher and aren’t a favorite for No. 1 free agent Patrick Corbin. @MLBNetwork @MLB
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 4, 2018
We have already seen a number of significant trades this offseason, and it seems like there are a lot of teams who would prefer to trade for players under team-friendly contracts rather than spending huge in free agency. Kluber, who finished third in AL Cy Young voting this year, is owed $17 million in 2019 and has club options of $15.5 million and $16 million in 2020 and 2021. That makes him one of the better bargains in baseball, so the return for him would have to be quite impressive.
Bauer is also coming off an outstanding season in which he went 12-6 with a 2.21 ERA in 28 starts. He is five years younger than Kluber at age 27, though he’s only under team control for two more years.
The Indians have discussed trading a top starting pitcher with at least one other team, so the Reds will undoubtedly have some competition.
