Cleveland Indians: Recapping the trade deadline

The 2017 MLB trade deadline has passed. The Cleveland Indians got linked to a few different big names but, in the end, made a single move to get reliever Joe Smith from Toronto.

The trade deadline is always full of rumors and news all day long. Some teams get more activity than others but it is especially action packed for the big buyers and sellers.

The Cleveland Indians were buyers with a current slim lead in the Central division. They got linked to multiple names all day but the deadline passed with them making one single move: trading prospects Thomas Pannone and Samad Taylor for former Tribe reliever Joe Smith.

The name may sound familiar among the Tribe faithful as Smith was with the club from 2009 through 2013. He posted an 18-11 record with a 2.76 ERA and 1.199 WHIP in his five years with the ball club.

Smith was having a terrific year with the Toronto Blue Jays, posting a record of 3-0 with a 3.28 ERA and 1.211 WHIP with career highs in strikeouts per nine and strikeout-to-walk ratio with 12.9 K/9 and 5.1 K/BB. The move will bolster the bullpen with Boone Logan on the 60-day DL and likely out for the rest of the season.

The Indians got linked to more than just Smith before the deadline. Among the big names linked to the Tribe were pitchers Yu Darvish and Sonny Gray. Although these names came with heavy price tags, the Indians seemed in the conversation.

Darvish is not the typical Indians target at the deadline. He has one year left on his contract which makes him a rental for the rest of 2017.

This is the type of player the Indians typically shy away from in trade negotiations. The team likes to trade for players under team control for one or more years because of the benefits over a one and done. The Indians don’t feel comfortable paying the type of price associated with a guy like Darvish. This is a common practice for a small market team like the Indians.

Sonny Gray is different in that his contract situation is not a rental. He is arbitration eligible in 2018 and 2019. This would give the Indians some breathing room however this is still not total team control which the Indians prefer.

Both Darvish and Gray seemed to come with heavy price tags. The eventual deal to land Gray got executed by the Yankees. They sent highly touted Jorge Mateo to Oakland along with Dustin Fowler and James Kaprielian.

The trade perplexed some analysts as it seemed Gray could command more than that based solely on the latter two prospects having dealt with surgery recently. Mateo, however, is a very coveted prospect.

The Dodgers gave up three of their top 30 prospects to land Yu Darvish. They sent IF Willie Calhoun, P AJ Alexy and IF Brendan Davis to Texas to land the 30-year-old starter.

The Indians had a couple of prospects of their own that teams coveted. All Tribe fans remember the infamous moment in 2016 when Jonathan Lucroy invoked his no-trade clause in a deal that would have sent Cleveland’s top prospect, Francisco Mejia, to the Milwaukee Brewers.

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The thought is that the Rangers still covet him and most likely tried to get the team to include him in any deal for Darvish. This was obviously too steep a price to pay in the Tribe’s eyes and rightfully so.

Triston McKenzie is another prospect teams likely mentioned in talks. The Indians must have felt strongly enough about these two that they did not deal either.

Another link to the Indians was Orioles’ reliever Zach Britton. A move to get Britton could have bolstered an already stellar bullpen for the Tribe.

The coveted reliever, much like Darvish and Gray, would come with a big price. Mejia or McKenzie would need included in a deal for Britton.

One other link to the Indians was starter Lance Lynn in St. Louis. Lynn is a starter that would bring a much-needed stable piece to the rotation. The Indians have seen an inconsistent approach from their current starters and would likely benefit from an upgrade.

The Indians seemed to feel as though the price wasn’t worth the return for these guys. Aside from the Smith trade the Indians stayed quiet.

The team has led us to believe they feel a healthy Jason Kipnis and Lonnie Chisenhall returning to the lineup is as good as a deadline deal. They also will be banking on Danny Salazar continuing his success in his return from injury.

Next: Indians acquire Joe Smith

The rest of the AL competition seemed to make deal after deal and fans are weary of the future. All we can do now is sit back and watch the rest of the year play out and find out if Cleveland made the correct decisions.