CLEVELAND — Will the Cleveland Indians be buyers or sellers at the MLB trade deadline at the end of the month?
That is the question fans have been asking and the front-office decision-makers must answer in the next two weeks as MLB’s trade deadline fast approaches and the team remaining a handful of games behind the Minnesota Twins for first place in the American League Central Division.
ESPN baseball senior writer Buster Olney believes the Indians should deal starting pitcher Trevor Bauer and possibly closer Brad Hand as well if the front office is not confident in the team’s ability to make a long postseason run and compete for a World Series title.
“There is serious interest in Bauer despite the right-hander's inconsistency this season, and rival teams are frothing after Hand, the left-handed closer whose contract will keep him under team control at a solid rate through the 2021 season,” Olney wrote on ESPN.com.
“The trade value for each player might never be higher than it is right now.”
In 21 starts this season, Bauer has posted an 8-7 record and 3.65 earned run average over a league-high 138.0 innings pitched. Bauer has allowed 110 hits, 54 walks, 65 runs, 56 of which have been earned, and 20 home runs against 160 strikeouts in 2019.
Bauer has been a double-digit winner in each of the last four seasons, totaling 52 victories from 2015-2018. Additionally, Bauer, a 2018 American League All-Star, has struck out at least 143 batters in each of the last six years, with his single-season career-best, 221, coming in 28 appearances in 2018.
Over 39.1 innings of work in 41 appearances with the Indians this year, Hand has posted a 4-3 record and 2.29 earned run average, all while converting 25 of his 26 save opportunities. Hand has struck out 60 hitters against 10 walks, 29 hits, 10 earned runs and three home runs allowed.
This season, opponents are hitting just .201 against Hand, an AL All-Star, and he has a league-high 40 games finished.
“One rival executive estimated that if the Indians wait until after this season to trade Bauer, the return will be reduced significantly -- because for an acquiring team, Bauer could impact only one pennant race, rather than two, and any deal over the winter likely will be mitigated by his forthcoming salary bump,” Olney wrote.
“The Indians probably could get excellent return for Hand now, but Cleveland could hang on to him into the winter, into the 2020 season, and so long as he is healthy and performing effectively, he would retain his value.”