Friday Five: Trades for the Cleveland Indians to move Mike Clevinger

We’ve already talked about how the Cleveland Indians need hitting, but in a similar stance, the Boston Red Sox need pitching.

Boston has allowed the most runs so far in the 2020 season, giving up 147 earned runs, while also logging a league-worst WHIP of 1.65, leading to a last-place standing in the AL East and a 6-18 record.

The main weakness of the Indians’ lineup right now is the revolving door in the outfield that can’t settle on any starters. We’ve seen blips from Tyler Naquin, Bradley Zimmer, Greg Allen, Delino DeShields, Franmil Reyes, Domingo Santana, Oscar Mercado, Daniel Johnson and even Mike Freeman. Quantity is there, but quality hasn’t been. Reyes is starting to catch on, but the rest are question marks.

Meanwhile, in Boston, they have great depth in the outfield and not much on the pitching staff.

J.D. Martinez has had a slow start to the season, having just two home runs and a .241 average, but we know what he can do once he catches on and a change of scenery could help that. He would provide another power bat to the Indians’ lineup and has been a steady player in the field as well.

Martinez’s issue could be his contract, which isn’t exactly affordable for a lower market team like Cleveland. Martinez has a base salary this year of $23.75 million with a player option for the next two years. Clevinger’s base salary is currently $4.1 million with two years of arbitration left, which is why Santana is added here as well.

Santana doesn’t have a huge contract at just $1.25 million in base salary, but it’s a little more progress towards making room for Martinez in Cleveland. Santana could also provide Boston with a solid fourth outfield option and a $5 million club option next year if they want to bring him back.

The other player in return, Andrew Politi, is a pitching prospect that is listed as Boston’s 28th best prospect by MLB.com. At 24 years old and not having advanced beyond High-A, it’s just a roll the dice throw in for the Indians to add to their farm system.

This is a very straightforward and rather even trade that both teams would benefit from.

With the call up of Jo Adell, the Angels have way more outfielders than spots right now, but all their outfielders are also playing at a rather high level.

The odd man out of the rotation in the field could be Brian Goodwin. Goodwin is off to a hot start this year and is posting career-bests. His average currently stands at .303 with four home runs and 12 RBI.

Goodwin also stands at the plate as a left-handed hitter, which is something the Indians’ surprisingly lack at times. The core of their lineup are switch-hitters at the top and Reyes provides pop from the right side, but they lack a true left-handed threat and Goodwin would provide that.

As for Clevinger’s fit in Los Angeles, it would work quite well. The Angels essentially lost Shohei Ohtani from their rotation and have struggled to put the pieces together. Mike Clevinger would provide a solid option in the rotation, and a younger one at that, to rather be an anchor for the unit.

Financially, the trade would work for both sides as well. Los Angeles has more flexibility, which is good, considering they would take on a bit more. As previously stated, Clevinger has a base salary of $4.1 million with two years of arbitration left. Goodwin is in a similar boat, having a base salary of $2.2 million with two years of arbitration left.

Not only would the Cleveland Indians shed some weight in the financial department, but they would also improve their outfield while not losing a whole lot from their rotation.

This is probably the most outlandish possibility for the Indians to get in return for Clevinger, but it also isn’t exactly impossible. Landing a 23-year-old All-Star in Austin Meadows wouldn’t be easy, but the  Indians have the farm system to pull it off.

We’ll begin with what the Indians would be giving up this time around, and it might look like a lot. Clevinger is the core of the deal and would help solidify the starting five in Tampa Bay well, a team that currently doesn’t have a starting pitcher with an ERA under 4.10. The other pieces though, are just as big.

With Meadows in Cleveland, there would be even less reason to keep Daniel Johnson around. The odds would be against him of landing a spot, and although the situation in Tampa Bay isn’t much better, his potential would be intriguing enough. An outfield loaded with young talent, the Rays could afford to downgrade from Meadows to Johnson if it means adding a steady arm to the rotation.

The other Cleveland piece going away would be Yu Chang. The Indians have been in this situation before when a young talent is stuck behind a strong player. It’s even happened recently at third base with Gio Urshela being behind Jose Ramirez. Beginning as a depth player with the option of earning a starting spot in Tampa, Chang is more valuable to the Rays than he could be with the Indians.

So could two MLB-ready prospects land a 2019 All-Star? Well, this season could help that. Meadows is having a “down year” with only three home runs and a .271 average. However, his stats from a year ago are more than enough to make him intriguing, knocking 33 home runs and maintaining a .291 average at the plate.

Being a left-handed bat, Meadows would fit in perfectly to what the Indians need, which could push them to be willing to spend even more than what I listed. Not to mention he has a lot of club control left on his contract that would allow him to stay put in the Cleveland outfield for years to come.

This is more of a personal favorite than it is a solid deal for the Cleveland Indians, but there is some logic to it. Michael Lorenzen and Amir Garrett can both provide something to an already strong bullpen in Cleveland.

The Indians’ bullpen is full of youth plus Oliver Perez and is proving to be a force in the league once the starters turn the game over. The one “issue” with Cleveland’s pitching as it currently stands is the diversity in matchups. Perez is one of just three left-handers in the bullpen for Cleveland with, the other two being the closer Brad Hand and starter-by-trade Logan Allen.

This is where Garrett comes into play. Predominately throwing a four-seam fastball and a slider, Garrett is the perfect left-handed compliment to add to all the Cleveland bullpen’s young right-handed arms. Garrett also still has multiple years of arbitration left, keeping him in the Indians’ bullpen for a long time.

That brings us to Lorenzen, who would be another right-handed pitcher in the bullpen. However, moving Nick Wittgren would free up the opportunity for Lorenzen to become the 8th inning guy for the Indians and be a true setup man. Lorenzen has one year less of arbitration left than Wittgren, but he is more proven and stable.

If you think back to the 2016 Cleveland Indians that made the World Series, one of the biggest strengths of that team was the bullpen and being able to lock down the 7-8-9 innings with a righty-lefty-righty combo. Adding Garrett and Lorenzen would give Cleveland a youthful trio with Hand to replicate that success in reverse with a lefty-righty-lefty death punch to close out games.

The other player added for Cleveland is Will Benson, the team’s 30th ranked prospect according to MLB.com. The Indians already have a solid group of young outfielders in the system, so moving one in this deal shouldn’t be an issue.

In the first round of the 2013 MLB Draft the Cleveland Indians selected outfielder Clint Frazier. They then sent Frazier to the Yankees in 2016 as part of the deal that landed Andrew Miller, who went on to win the Postseason MVP that season for the Indians. Now, Frazier could make his way back to Cleveland.

In just six games played this year because of a crowded outfield, Frazier has put up impressive numbers, using his limited time as best as he can. Entering the start of play Thursday, he had made 24 plate appearances, he has nine hits, two walks and just four strikeouts for a .409 batting average. He’s also been able to log three doubles and club two home runs while totaling eight RBIs.

Frazier could provide the perfect amount of pop that the Indians are looking for and would free them up to move a different outfielder that could fall out of the fold from this move, but this wouldn’t be a lopsided trade by any means.

Although the Yankees have been successful this year, currently leading the AL East and looking to be the AL favorites, their pitching could be improved.. J.A. Happ is currently holding a 6.39 ERA and is 37 years old. Mike Clevinger would be quite the upgrade over him in the rotation, not to mention he would inject the rotation with a bit of youth compared to Happ.

Out of the five trades here, this one seems to be the most beneficial to both teams, both contenders looking to add that final piece for the playoffs. The Indians and Yankees have dealt before and this trade makes sense on both sides.