Cleveland Indians: Grading each trade deadline move by the Tribe

Cleveland Indians gift Eddie Rosario to the Atlanta Braves

Frequent visitors of this site probably already know how I feel about this trade. The initial reaction warranted a full story on its own. Yes, this was mainly a salary dump. And yes, Eddie Rosario was struggling through this season. And yes, he was hurt. But there was nothing that said Cleveland had to trade Eddie Rosario, especially if it meant sending money in the deal to Atlanta also.

In the end, Cleveland received nothing in this deal. Technically, Pablo Sandoval came to the team in the deal, but the Tribe has already released him. Meaning that nothing was received on Cleveland’s side of the deal.

The reason that the deal was agreed upon was to save a few bucks. Considering that the team had to send cash with Rosario to Atlanta, they didn’t save all that much. However, perhaps every little bit counts.

The positive is that Rosario leaving makes a spot available in the outfield for someone else to get a chance. During his absence due to injury, the team was able to give more prospects a shot and that’s going to become the norm the rest of the season.

However, this deal alone was poorly executed. Had it been Rosario for Sandoval straight up to save money, that makes sense. But sending a team money in a deal that is supposed to save money doesn’t make total sense. Sure, the team will still save a little bit, but it just feels like there had to be a slightly better deal out there that included a low-level prospect instead of a player that has already been released.

Cleveland Indians Trade Grade: F