Cleveland Indians Wroundtable: Which Pitcher Would You Keep for Five More Years?

May 5, 2015; Kansas City, MO, USA; Cleveland Indians pitcher D. Salazar (31) delivers a pitch against the Kansas City Royals during the first inning at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports

The Indians are leading all of major league baseball in strikeouts, with 563 heading into Friday’s game. Corey Kluber has more than any other pitcher, with 109 in just 91.2 innings. Danny Salazar is tied for fourth in the AL, with 81,  while Carlos Carrasco is seventh, with 77 punchouts of his own. Last but not least is Trevor Bauer, who ranks a lowly [sarcasm intended] tenth place on the AL strikeout leaderboard.

Four of the top ten strikeout pitchers in the AL belong to one rotation? That certainly sounds like a recipe for success. Combine them with a bullpen filled with flame-throwers, and the Indians are pretty stacked in the strikeout department.

That being said, the Tribe is a small market team with some very tight budget constraints, and they have to keep an open mind when it comes to trades and contract extensions. It’s possible, if not fairly probable, that over the next couple of seasons, the Indians will be forced to trade some of their young stars or allow them to walk away in free agency.

With that in mind, the Wahoo’s on First team answered this week’s Wroundtable question:

Which of the four horsemen of the K-pocalypse [trademark pending] would you most like to have for the next five years?

First up (and getting surprisingly few votes) the Cy Young winner:

Next: K-Pocalypse Pitchers: Corey Kluber