We have heard all manner of connections today regarding the Indians, but it has emerged now — with about two hours left til the deadline — that Cleveland is focused on adding a reliever. The team is optimistic of finding a pen arm of some kind today, Jon Morosi of MLB.com tweets.
While the focus may be on a lefty, particularly one that would hold out the promise of some impact, that doesn’t appear to be an exclusive aim of the Cleveland brass. Jon Heyman of Fan Rag does tweet, though, that a southpaw would be preferred, and indeed Cleveland has been tied to some high-end lefties. Indeed, there were suggestions this morning that the Indians were “pushing” for Orioles lefty Zach Britton.
Among the targets is old friend Joe Smith, per Ken Rosenthal of MLB Network (Twitter link). Smith has thrown well this year for the Blue Jays and recently returned from a lengthy DL stint. He is earning just $3MM this year and would deepen the overall unit, though he’s not really a top option for facing lefties. Smith has been much stingier when facing same-handed hitters over his career and in 2017.
I always liked Joe Smith, so I’d take him in a heartbeat. I’d love to see a lefty but the prices for Hand/Britton don’t seem to be worth it.
indians are sitting idly by while other contenders make moves. their complacency drives me insane.
On pitching at least it makes some sense as there is no glaring need to panic deal
On a middle INF or OF bat though, I really don’t get it. Prices are so cheap, what is the hold up?
Trading for the sake of trading is not a good plan so they didn’t need to swing a big headline deal. They mostly needed bullpen help and bench bat/IF help which they can easily fill in the next few weeks.
Package of Darvish and Claudio. Two birds with one stone.
Well we could always throw in Claudio or Kela alongside Darvish if y’all are willing to give up Mejia or McKenzie
Why aren’t the angels and the Indians engaging then?
Claudio makes sense for Cleveland, especially with Boone Logan out for an extended period of time. But, would Cleveland be willing to dish out to land them that type of controllable arm? I don’t think anyone really knows.
With some of the guys they’ve been connected to, I don’t think dishing out to land someone is much of an issue.
The Indians will probably have to settle for somebody like Tony Watson. I just can’t see them expending the prospect capital required to bring in Darvish and Claudio. And, as a long-suffering fan, I’m not sure Meija and McKenzie should be in play for a rental SP.
I went to see Mejia play this year at Spring Training, to see him against Major League competition. Tribe needs to keep him.
And I agree with you about rentals. Not worth throwing away years of control for a handful of starts.
Sadly, we’ve gotten to the point where you can’t type “Tony Watson” in a sentence without “settle” being there as well.
Tigers Alex Wilson and/or Shane Greene make a lot of sense…. if two rivals are willing to deal.