Cleveland Indians: What to make of the Manny Machado rumors

The trade deadline is drawing closer and the hottest name on the market is being linked to every team. One of those teams being the Cleveland Indians.

It seems like every day your phone is blowing up with notifications of some kind of Manny Machado rumor. Cleveland Indians fans are no stranger to this now as it appears the Indians have inquired about Machado.

This was the news Tribe fans saw yesterday. It was said the Baltimore Orioles had been looking at the Indians number two and three prospects. It now turns out that the Orioles were looking at Shane Bieber and Triston McKenzie.

This is obviously a huge deal. Shane Bieber has established himself in this rotation. He has effectively replaced Josh Tomlin and he’s only 23 years of age. Bieber has been a strike-throwing machine. He has 36 strikeouts in 36.1 innings of work. That’s impressive for the young buck.

The other inquiry was Triston McKenzie. McKenzie has a 2.73 ERA over his minor-league career. This year in Akron he’s sporting an impressive WHIP of 0.88. McKenzie was the break-out star in last year’s Futures Game. He’s made a name for himself as a top Tribe prospect.

The Orioles obviously need starting pitching. Their rotation is dismal with a 5.30 starter ERA. They obviously want some young pieces to help their rotation. They’ve even mentioned including their reliever Zach Britton.

This is where things get interesting. The Indians obviously need bullpen help. Britton hasn’t been super dominant this year. The Indians would be able to keep Britton an extra year which would be a huge bonus should they lose Andrew Miller and Cody Allen.

Bottom line

The bottom line of all if this is simple. There is no way the Indians make this trade. Yes, this is considered “their window” but they have a lot of young talent, and a rotation that will be around for a while. Why would they give up six or more years of future pitching for a two month rental and  a reliever that had injury issues this year.

Next: Three potential trades for the Tribe

Offense is not the issue the Tribe face. They need some backup in the outfield but that is not a solution Manny Machado offers. When the biggest needs are bullpen help and outfield help, a trade like this does not make sense. I don’t think there is any chance Machado lands in Cleveland with the amount of suitors he has out there.