Cleveland Indians: Five former Indians who could return in 2021

Corey Kluber

After trading Carlos Carrasco, the Cleveland Indians have four of five starting spots in the rotation locked up. Now, they’ve proved time and time again that they can produce top tier starting pitchers through the minors. However, what if they exhausted their immediate resources? All four of the pitchers in Cleveland have debuted in the last few years, so there could be a void before the next player is ready.

To fill that void, the Indians could very easily turn to a familiar face in Corey Kluber. Kluber pitched just one inning for the Rangers before being injured and ending his time with the team. Missing nearly the entire 2020 season after an injury riddled 2019 season isn’t exactly great news for any free agent, especially a pitcher.

Because of this, Kluber could entertain a return to his roots on a cheap, one-year deal. He needs to reestablish himself and what better place than the organization that helped create him in the first place.

While the last two years have been difficult, he was the Cy Young Award winner in 2017 and finished third in 2018 before everything broke lose. He won’t be the Klubot of old, but that’s not what the Indians need. They would just need him to hold down the fifth spot in the rotation to buy an extra year for the pitchers in the minors.