Cleveland Indians: Breaking down the top offseason rumors

Rumor Four: “Trade a Top Prospect for One Season of Manny Machado!”

This rumor is a little harder to discount outright.

In fact, it’s positively intoxicating.

Where you land on it probably comes down to whether you view the 2018 season as a make or break year for the Tribe.

I’d like to debate that question a moment:

Point: The Indians’ window is still wide-open and not closing anytime soon, so there’s no need for desperation.

The entirety of the Indians “core” (Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Francisco Lindor, Jose Ramirez and Edwin Encarnacion) is locked up through the 2020 season, and, in most of those cases, beyond.

Capable young talent (Bradley Zimmer, Greg Allen, Giovanny Urshela, Francisco Mejia, Mike Clevinger, Ryan Merritt and others) look poised to fill in gaps that will be opening up in the years ahead.

The Indians front office is known as one of the best in baseball for a reason. They’ve laid the long-term foundations for a team capable of winning it all for the foreseeable future.

Given how well the forward-looking, patient strategy of the front office has paid off, it might be a mistake to deviate away from it by trading away one or several top prospects (particularly pitching prospects) for a one year rental.

Of course…

Counter-point: The window on Cleveland having the best bullpen in baseball is closing fast.

The Indians have already lost the indestructible Bryan Shaw, one of the unsung heroes of the past several seasons.

In all likelihood, 2018 is the last year Cody Allen and Andrew Miller will be in an Indians uniform.

While the Indians have other talented arms in the bullpen, what the relief corps will look like in 2019 is a complete mystery. This may well be the last year the bullpen can be a game-changing weapon come October.

If reports are true that a package of Triston McKenzie and a few lower-level prospects could land Manny Machado, this might very well be the time for the Indians to deviate from their playbook, as they did when trading for Andrew Miller at the 2016 deadline.

It will likely come down to how highly the Orioles value McKenzie and other top Tribe prospects relative to those of the St. Louis Cardinals and other likely Machado suitors.

Craziness Level: 2/10

Next: Ranking Terry Francona among the team’s best managers

Take another deep breath, Tribe fans.  It’s a long offseason ahead.