Cleveland Indians: Tribe reportedly unlikely to trade Kluber or Bauer

In some news that came on late Thursday night, the Cleveland Indians are reportedly unlikely to trade Corey Kluber or Trevor Bauer this offseason.

Everyone exhale, ready? AHHHHHHHHHHH! Finally some good news for the Cleveland Indians, and just in time for the new year. I have been driven mad by the constant rumors of two of my favorite players being moved to another team.

But now according to MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince, the Indians may not be moving the oft-rumored All-Stars after all. The info can be seen from his Twitter or on the provided link.

Well, well, well. It appears after a seemingly endless period of debate, the Indians reportedly won’t be traded away Corey Kluber or Trevor Bauer “unless a deal is an absolute home run” per Castrovince.

I don’t know about you, but from the deals I’ve seen offered to the Tribe, nothing has been a home run. The Indians need MLB-level players for their bullpen and outfield. But the free agent market is full of relievers (including a deranged Craig Kimbrel) and the Indians have players that can fill the role in the outfield. But those spots should be a priority for the Indians for the remainder of the offseason.

The Indians supposedly saved $18-$21 million with the moves they made this offseason which is enough for them to make some minor, yet meaningful moves. But an important thing for the Indians to do to be contenders is to keep their identity as having one of the best rotations in the MLB.

Keeping Kluber and Bauer around will help them do just that. Now one of the deepest positions on this Indians team is the starting pitcher. They still have Mike Clevinger, Carlos Carrasco (who was just extended), and Shane Bieber, Danny Salazar (hopefully), and Cody Anderson (possibly, who know anymore).

That’s a loooooot of pitchers. There’s a good chance that someone is traded at some point. If it’s Mike Clevinger, I will throw a temper tantrum. Shane Bieber has been mentioned a few times. Salazar and Anderson are wildcards.

The point is, at the end of the day, the Indians likely won’t trade two of our favorite players unless they get (what they consider) a huge value. Let’s take that to heart.