Cleveland Indians: Top 3 off-the-field moments of 2020

Cleveland Indians trade Mike Clevinger to San Diego in nine-player deal

At the time of the trade there were mixed emotions of out Cleveland, but now 20/20 hindsight is showing that the Cleveland Indians are currently winning this trade. An injury to Mike Clevinger has derailed the plans of the Padres and forced them to acquire two more starting pitchers while the Indians are expected to use at least three of the players they acquired in the coming season.

For the Indians, they added Josh Naylor, Austin Hedges and Cal Quantrill who have all already contributed in Cleveland. Naylor is expected to be an every day starter in the outfield while Hedges will be the backup catcher and Quantrill a reliable arm in the bullpen.

Additionally, the Indians also added three prospects as well in Gabriel Arias, Joey Cantillo and Owen Miller. Arias is the highest ranked among the three, being the Tribe’s No. 6 prospect and the assumed double-play partner of the future for No. 2 prospect Tyler Freeman. Cantillo joins him on the list at No. 15 and Miller as well at No. 18.

There’s still a lot to be determined about this trade with the small sample size all-around, but given the injury to Clevinger, the Cleveland Indians have won this in the short-term, making it one of the best off-the-field moments of 2020 for the Tribe.