3 players Cleveland Indians could trade and still remain competitive

3 players Cleveland Indians could trade and still remain competitive

The trade deadline for Major League Baseball is drawing close and it would be a complete shock to see the Cleveland Indians do anything other than sell at this point. Even staying put and doing nothing seems a bit of a far cry for the team given their objective to save payroll and build towards the future.

While selling seems like the route to be taken, the Tribe are not completely out of contention. It would be an uphill climb, but the Wild Card is at least still within reach. Luckily, there’s a path for Cleveland to be sellers while also keeping a competitive roster for down the stretch to make a potential postseason push.

Heading into the series against the St. Louis Cardinals, the Cleveland Indians hold a record of 49-48, just above .500. That standing has the Tribe five games out of the Wild Card race, tied with the Los Angeles Angels, while being 8.5 games behind the Chicago White Sox in the American League Central. Like I said, the division might be too far out at this point, but the Wild Card is still a possibility.

Even with that considered, it doesn’t make sense for the Tribe to do anything other than sell at the deadline. Being a small market team, this is how Cleveland has been able to stay competitive for as long as they have. Instead of letting players walk in free agency, they are moved for future pieces. This familiar situation is likely set to happen again this week.

We’ve already talked about prospects that could benefit from a Cleveland deadline trade, but what about the players that can easily be replaced? The players that the team can live without and still have a shot at the division? If the Cleveland Indians do decide to sell, these players can be moved with the team not missing much of a beat.