Cleveland Indians: Three perfectly timed trades by the front office

Mike Clevinger to the San Diego Padres

The jury is still out on this one a bit, but in the short return it seems like the front office once again worked it’s magic to get this deal done. Greg Allen was in San Diego for a cup of coffee, playing in just one game, before joining the Yankees this offseason. As for Mike Clevinger, he’s pitched in just four games as a Padre due to missing time, including what is expected to be the entire 2021 season, with injuries.

As for the return to the Cleveland Indians, three of the players are already contributing in the majors and the other three are all on the Top 30 prospect list for the club. Austin Hedges has taken over the role as the backup catcher, Cal Quantrill is essentially the long reliever of the bullpen and Josh Naylor is still coming into his own with flashes of his potential, turning only 24-years old in June.

The writing was kind of on the wall for a Clevinger trade. The organization had young pitching rising through the minors, Clevinger had a bit of an injury history and his being sent down for his off-the-field issue might have been the last straw. Despite the injury history and bad publicity, the front office was still able to flip him for three current major league players with the possibility of getting six total big leaguers, including the potential shortstop of the future in Gabriel Arias. Like I said, the jury is still out but it’s hard to see a way this one sways toward San Diego.