Cleveland Indians: 10 players that left and never looked back

The B.F.F.’s

Trevor Bauer, Mike Clevinger

I decided to keep these two best friends together for a segment I like to call, “How the Indians fleeced the Padres.”

Between the two of them, traded a little over a year apart, Cleveland was able to procure 11 players in return, nine of which came from the San Diego Padres. With familiar names such as Franmil Reyes, Josh Naylor, Austin Hedges, Cal Quantrill, Gabriel Arias, Owen Miller, and Joey Cantillo, it’s easy to see why the Indians moved on from these guys.

Another name associated specifically with the Bauer trade was Yasiel Puig. He joined a team who had flirted with the lead in the American League Central but couldn’t quite push through that wall. He provided a bit of a spark hitting .297 with a .800 OPS but the team never got over the hump and wound up on the outside looking in.

Mike Clevinger has pitched a total of 19 innings and has since undergone Tommy John surgery in the aftermath of being traded to San Diego. It is unfortunate that he has had to go down that path but it does show that the Indians were right to move on from him when they did. Yes, even chance plays a part in who wins a trade.

As far as Trevor Bauer goes, I won’t get into the grim details of his recent administrative leave but the Indians had experienced clubhouse issues stemming from his behavior and I for one am glad he is gone. Sometimes culture outweighs talent. Enough said.