Cleveland Indians: Breaking down the top offseason rumors

Some Cleveland Indians fans may be ready to hit the panic button at the start of this offseason, so let’s break down the top rumors fans are talking about.

Carlos Santana and Bryan Shaw are out the door. The New York Yankees will now be able to protect Aaron Judge in their lineup with Giancarlo Stanton. The Boston Red Sox still have Chris Sale. And did you see the Houston Astros in the World Series? Yeesh!

Is it time for the Cleveland Indians to push the Big Red Panic Button this offseason?

From some of the rumors floating around, you might think so. But I’d like to take a step back, take a deep breath and reassess four of the most persistent rumors, ranked in order of their level of desperation, on a patented 1-10 “Craziness” scale, with 1 representing sound, rational decision-making and 10 representing “Cleveland Browns-level thinking.”

 Rumor One: “Trade Danny Salazar!”

Trading away major league quality starting pitching is always a questionable move for any team.  For a small market team to trade away a young pitcher with a high-ceiling and three more seasons of team control would be downright reckless.

Danny Salazar’s health and consistency issues are well-known. When going right, however, he has the stuff to mow down a Yankees, Red Sox, or Astros lineup in Game 3 or even Game 2 of the ALDS.

Trading away three years of that kind of upside should require much more than a marginal upgrade over internal options at first base or in the outfield.

“But we already have too many pitchers!”

The people who make this argument are probably the same who’d sell a kidney on the black market for 500 bucks and a bottle of Black Velvet.

Remember back in July, when Indians fans were eagerly checking-in on Sonny Gray?

Or how about the 2016 playoffs, when the Indians’ rotation was down to Corey Kluber, Josh Tomlin, and two-and-half of Trevor Bauer’s unmangled fingers?

Remember at the start of the 2016 season, when many fans thought trading away Carlos Carrasco for the likes of Jason Heyward was the ticket to October glory?

The lesson, as always: You can never have enough starting pitching. And keep both your kidneys.

Craziness Level: 9/10