Cleveland Indians: Early look at the bullpen trade market

Kelvin Herrera

Another high-leverage reliever on a team with next-to-no chance of making the playoffs, Kelvin Herrera of the Kansas City Royals will be just as coveted at the deadline as Iglesias. The Royals closer has given up exactly one earned run in 2018 and boasts a staggering WHIP of 0.61. He’s also incredibly efficient, having thrown 70 percent of his total pitches for strikes thus far.

One of the few remaining cornerstones from the Royals’ back-to-back World Series appearances, Herrera has his share of experience in the pressure cooker that is October. Much like Iglesias, he could fill a slot anywhere in the back-end of the Indians bullpen.

Unlike Iglesias, however, he will become a free agent after the 2018 season, which might have an impact on the type of role he’d be comfortable with during the home stretch of this year. Quite simply, closers get paid, and it’s reasonable to believe he’d  want to remain a ninth inning guy in order to maximize his free agency value.

Again, it’s not like the Indians would be losing anything if that were the case. Having Miller and Allen as setup guys for a World Series champion closer? Most of Tribe Nation could probably get on board with that.

In any case, both Iglesias and Herrera represent the high-stakes, going-for-broke options at the deadline for the Indians. Now let’s explore some depth options.