CLEVELAND — One week after discussions between the two teams were deemed "serious," the Cleveland Indians and Los Angeles Dodgers' trade talks regarding All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor appear to have reached an impasse.
Lost in the madness of the trade in which the Indians sent Corey Kluber to the Texas Rangers on Sunday was a report from NBC Los Angeles that states the Indians and Dodgers' week-long trade talks have now "stalled." Citing sources, the report states that the standstill comes as the result of Cleveland's insistence that Los Angeles includes infield prospect Gavin Lux in the deal with the Dodgers unwilling to do so unless the Indians also trade them starting pitcher Mike Clevinger.
That report seems to mesh with what David Vassegh of SportsNetLA and AM 570 LA said during an appearance on the MLB Network last week when he brought up Clevenger as a player who had been discussed between the two teams. It doesn't come as a surprise, however, that the Indians wouldn't be willing to part with the 28-year-old Clevinger, who could be in line to be their Opening Day starter.
"Sources say that Cleveland does not want to part with Clevinger," the report states, "The Dodgers top priority is Lindor, but the team believes Clevinger is essential to a good return if the team were to part with Lux, a consensus top 10 prospect in all of baseball."
Conversely, Los Angeles likely feels that its farm system is strong enough that it could acquire Lindor without parting ways with the 21-year-old Lux, who MLB.com ranks as the No. 2 prospect in all of baseball. In August, MLB.com ranked the Dodgers' farm system the third-best in baseball, with four top 100 prospects in pitcher Dustin May (No. 32), catcher Keibert Ruiz (No. 33), pitcher Josiah Gray (No, 75) and shortstop Jeter Downs (No. 87), aside from Lux.
According to NBC Sports, discussions between the Indians and Dodgers have also included Los Angeles prospects Edwin Rios and DJ Peters, as well as current Major League players Joc Pederson and Ross Stripling. And while a deal between the two teams doesn't appear close, it also isn't dead and could extend into the season with Lindor still under the Indians' control for the next two years.