Cleveland Indians: Early look at the bullpen trade market

Cleveland Indians relievers have had a rough few weeks. It’s unlikely they don’t bounce back, but their struggles have illustrated the need for future help.

It’s been a weird start to the year for the Cleveland Indians. After averaging just 3.8 runs in the month of April, the Tribe has scored a league-best 77 runs through the first 11 games of May. The weird part? The Indians are 4-7 in the latter, pushing their record to an uninspiring 19-19.

The Indians pitching staff helped the team tread water until the bats came alive, but a few shaky starts of late combined with a bullpen that has come apart at the seams have the Tribe reeling at the moment. There isn’t much cause for concern among the starters; they have largely been efficient and three of them (Corey Kluber, Mike Clevinger, Trevor Bauer) have ERAs of 3.00 or lower.

The bullpen, on the other hand, looks like it may need some help in the not-too-distant future. This isn’t panic mode. Nobody, at least not the person writing this, is predicting the apocalypse for the Indians’ 2018 season based on one tough stretch for the relief pitchers. In fact, if it wasn’t for an Andrew Miller DL-stint, they may never have entered this rough patch.

If anything, though, Miller’s visit to the shelf amplified the need for depth. Nick Goody remains on the DL as well with elbow inflammation, and the Tribe simply cannot afford to have a thin back-end. No playoff team can.

With that in mind, here are a few relievers the Indians could (and should) look to target in the summertime.