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Cleveland Indians trade talk: 7 players the Tribe should target

By Nick Dudukovich

Apr 9, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; Kansas City Royals relief pitcher Kelvin Herrera (40) pitches during the ninth inning against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 9, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; Kansas City Royals relief pitcher Kelvin Herrera (40) pitches during the ninth inning against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports /
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May 18, 2017; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Ervin Santana (54) gets ready to pitch before the game against the Colorado Rockies at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
May 18, 2017; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Ervin Santana (54) gets ready to pitch before the game against the Colorado Rockies at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports /

1. Ervin Santana, Twins

How much longer can the Twins continue to shock the baseball world? If the Twins should start declining, Ervin Santana would be No. 1 on my list of trade candidates to pursue.

With the Memorial Day milestone here, it’s clear the Indians rotation is not even close to be as good as many expected.

Corey Kluber’s hurt. Danny Salazar hasn’t been consistenly good since July of 2016 and is headed to the bullpen. Josh Tomlin and Trevor Bauer are consistently inconsistent.

Carlos Carrasco has been Terry Francona‘s best starter, but even Cookie has hit a rough patch, allowing nine earned runs in his last two starts, which were against the Rays and Reds, respectively.

The Indians need stability, and they need it fast.

The 34-year-old Santana is 7-2 with an incredibly low 1.80 ERA. He’s making $13.5 million and is under contract through 2019.

He’s making a lot of money, but the Indians should have some money to throw around. Remember, the organization was more active in trying to sign free agent Jose Bautista then a lot of people gave them credit for, and this was after they had already locked up Edwin Encarnacion.

Santana’s a big reason for the Twins success. If the Twins start to fail, there’s a chance he could start to fail, too.

But even if the Twins slip a little behind the Tribe in the Central, Minnesota could be aggressive in trying to find a trade partner for Santana just because the market is expected to be flooded with starting pitchers, according to FanRagSports.com’s Jon Heyman.

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