Cleveland Indians: 5 reasons why the Mike Clevinger trade was great
By Chad Porto
The Cleveland Indians dealt Mike Clevinger in what may be a franchise defining trade for years to come, that’s assuming guys develop as they should.
The Cleveland Indians have got some great things to look forward to thanks in part to the Mike Clevinger trade. A replenished minor league system, some good new players for the main roster, and a loss of a bad attitude. This, unlike other recent trades, is all win for the Indians.
At least on paper.
Unlike other years in the past when the team traded away a slew of prospects for rentals and guys who weren’t going to be that good that much longer, this was the type of trade the Indians should try to make yearly. A good but not great player for a stack of main roster players and a few top prospects.
It may not be possible, obviously, but it’s the idea that gets fans excited. Guys like Ubaldo Jimenez, Yasiel Puig, and even Andrew Miller weren’t enough to get the team over the hump and while the Jimenez trade ended up being bad for both parties, the other two are vastly different. Granted the Puig traded brought in Franmil Reyes, so there’s some good that came out of it.
On top of everything else, the Indians haven’t had that best of luck with developing and calling up their position prospects. Either because they’re oft-injured, hello Bradley Zimmer, or because they just don’t pan out.
The trade absolutely helped address that issue, and the Indians minor leagues are looking pretty good now. The Indians can’t keep trading away their top prospects. Instead, they need to adopt a college football, “reload” approach. Run the same group out as long as they win and call up the kids every so often to see what they can do, then cash out on select veterans as necessary.
That’s exactly what they did with the Clevinger deal. So let’s take a look at the holes the trade filled for the Tribe.