3 players Cleveland Indians could trade and still remain competitive

Cleveland Indians 2B Cesar Hernandez

Since coming to Cleveland Cesar Hernandez has really blossomed as a player. Last year it was a defensive awakening, earning his first career Gold Glove. This year, the progression has switched to the offensive side of the game, already with a career-high home runs for a single season with 17. But how could the Cleveland Indians deal him and still remain competitive?

There’s no questioning Hernandez’s impact this year. He’s been one of the bright spots of the team, but there’s other options should the team move him. In the lineup, Bradley Zimmer showed potential in the leadoff spot over a few games. As for the field, there are plenty of prospects that can take over the spot.

If the team wants to go with players who already have service time logged, then Ernie Clement, Yu Chang or Owen Miller are options to play second. However, if the team is willing to give a new player a shot then Gabriel Arias seems like the logical choice to step up.

Over the last 28 days, Arias is slashing .289/.344/.446 for Triple-A Columbus with five doubles, a triple and two home runs. Over the last week the numbers are even better at .389/.476/.500. Being the No. 5 prospect in the organization, giving Arias time now could help the team next year since he won’t have the same learning curve then. Plus, he’s showing enough pop now that he could easily fill in for Hernandez and the team shouldn’t miss much of a beat.