Cleveland Indians Rumors: Encarnacion almost traded to Red Sox?

Reports came out today that the Cleveland Indians were in talks with the Boston Red Sox about a potential trade involving Edwin Encarnacion.

Bob Nightengale has stated that the Red Sox discussed a deal involving Encarnacion earlier in the offseason. Red Sox star outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr was involved in discussions as well but Boston was reportedly unwilling to include him.

That’s not surprising, considering Bradley is much younger and cheaper than Encarnacion. But with the public war of words between J.D. Martinez and Boston, they would view Encarnacion as a cheaper, shorter term option than Martinez. But Bradley’s value was too high for Boston to give up.

Bradley is an elite defender but his bat is lagging behind a bit. It wouldn’t provide much of an upgrade in the lineup, especially faced with the loss of Encarnacion in the proposed swap. Losing Encarnacion, Santana, and Bruce from the order and only adding Bradley would present a problem for the lineup.

Would this trade have set up more moves?

It would have to. Perhaps clearing Encarnacion’s payroll would have given the Cleveland Indians the payroll flexibility to sign J.D. Martinez and insert him into the middle of the order. He could also play the outfield and perhaps split time at DH with guys like Michael Brantley or Jason Kipnis.

Trading Encarnacion for Bradley and then signing Martinez would completely overhaul the outfield and fill two holes on the roster. The proposed trade was likely not a one-for-one swap but there are the only two named players we know of.

Are trade talks ongoing?

Not at this point. Talks could heat up again at any point. The Indians are still working on roster upgrades even with Spring Training getting ready to start. With most of the top free agents still on the market, clearing some payroll flexibility would give the Tribe a chance to sign some of them.

Trading Encarnacion, 35, and his contract would not only give the team payroll flexibility but also help the team get younger and lengthen their championship window. If a deal with Boston were to happen, however, Jackie Bradley is not going to be included. That much seems certain.

Boston has some great outfielders and that is a position that could use an upgrade in Cleveland. Bradley is unavailable, and their other outfielders in Andrew Benintendi and Mookie Betts are even younger and more valuable, making a deal difficult to see happening.

Milwaukee is one team that is loaded with outfielders and could still look to move a couple of them before the season, and we’ve covered that possibility before. This has been a very interesting offseason and things figure to pick up in the next few days.

Next: One week until pitchers and catcher report!

Every GM’s office throws around a lot of possibilities every offseason. Most are never heard by the public and never come to fruition. This could simply be another case of due diligence by both front offices.