It’s almost midway through the MLB season, and by now we have a pretty clear idea of which teams will buyers or sellers when the trade deadline comes along. The Cleveland Indians are likely the latter.
The Tribe is heading into July still below .500. Other than a decent month of May, there’s been no indication they’re anything more than the underperforming unit we’ve been watching to this point. Overall, it’s been a significant letdown to see a team many thought was ready to break out show the league they’re still a ways away from fulfilling those expectations.
Knowing they aren’t in a “one piece away” type situation, the Indians are likely going to see if there is anything they can move on their roster. Now, this is hardly the all-out fire sale we saw from Cleveland back in ’08 and ’09. At the same time, there just hasn’t been enough evidence to show the Indians are capable of winning consistently this year.
Obviously, cornerstone players like Jason Kipnis and Michael Brantley aren’t going anywhere. You’d like to think this would be the case for anyone the team recently re-signed as guys for the long term. On top of this, as much as fans would love to bid farewell to Nick Swisher or Michael Bourn, their respective contracts are likely going to scare off plenty of buyers.
However, there is one player Cleveland should definitely consider moving, and it’s someone the team once pegged plenty of hope on. Thanks to his never truly living up to the hype which followed him, it’s time the Indians tried to move first baseman Carlos Santana.
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