Cleveland Indians rumors: Tribe cautious of big trade; Padres tried to get Trevor Bauer

Fox’s Ken Rosenthal dropped some Cleveland Indians rumors: The Tribe won’t make a deal that isn’t sensible, and the Padres tried to get Trevor Bauer.

In Cleveland Indians rumors, Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal said the San Diego Padres tried to make a play for Trevor before the start of the season.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise for Tribe fans who followed the hot stove season last winter. San Diego was linked to Corey Kluber, so to hear they started talking about Trevor Bauer makes sense.

Rosenthal contends that finding a No. 1 starter will remain a priority at the trade deadline. Will Bauer be linked to San Diego again?

I wouldn’t rule it out. Bauer himself said he expects to be traded after the season because he’ll be just one season away from free agency.

And frankly, there’s no telling what direction this Indians team is heading in down the stretch. The Tribe’s 5.5 back entering May 19. They currently possess the No. 2 Wild Card spot. But their offseason moves of slashing payroll don’t suggest they’re going to go for it.

With that in mind, it wouldn’t be out of left-field to see an in-season deal for Bauer.

Right now, teams are prepping for June’s draft, there’s not a lot of trade talk emanating from MLB franchises right now. Rosenthal said teams are still trying to figure out whether they’ll be buyers or sellers.

The lead in the Central may be growing in the Twins favor and the Indians still can’t hit, but there’s apparently not a huge sense of urgency down on the corner of Carnegie and Ontario.

"“Teams playing catch-up, like the Indians for example, might not want to make a big move when they might not view it as especially sensible.”"

This whole strange season continues to linger onward. The Tribe is hanging around, despite losing Corey Kluber and Mike Clevinger to injury. Terry Francona‘s lineups can’t hit and the band-aid’s haven’t worked.

Hanley Ramirez is already long gone and Carlos Gonzalez may be next. The Indians wanted to give him 100 at-bats to get his timing down, and he entered May 18 with 101 plate appearance. The clock is ticking on the former slugger.

Based off their recent actions, it seems the 2019 Indians are happy to just hang around the Wild Card race while setting themselves up for the next couple of seasons.

The whole outfield dilemma just seems like one season-long evaluation of players. Can they find or two guys who will stick? Whether it be Oscar Mercado, Leonys Martin, Jordan Luplow, Jake Bauers, Greg Allen or whomever.

Then,  either Bauer or Kluber will be traded at some point in the near future. They can make this trade knowing there is depth behind Carlos Carrasco, Mike Clevinger and Shane Bieber. Jefry Rodriguez and Adam Plutko have certainly added some sunshine on the future of the rotation.