Cleveland Indians: 5 reasons why the Mike Clevinger trade was great

A new potential starting pitcher

The Indians‘ trade of Mike Clevinger also got them a new piece to add to the rotation or bullpen in Cal Quantrill. Quantrill will start as a long-reliever for the Indians but as he was once a highly touted minor league starter, a return to the starting rotation makes sense, especially with Zach Plesac and Adam Plutko being on thin ice for different reasons. Quantrill has good control of his stuff and regularly posts sub 4.0 ERA’s across the minors and majors, though not always.

In his lone year as a starter in the Majors, Quantrill posted a 5.00+ ERA, but as it was his rookie year, that’s not the worst thing to ever happen. Especially with the Indians, who have a known history of turning mediocre pitching prospects and beaten up vets into  Cy Young-looking pitchers.

So if Quantrill can transition back into the rotation and pitch well, then the Clevinger deal would be worth it alone for Quantrill. Even if he only pitches out of the bullpen, there’s plenty of future potential with his skillset. The bullpen is pretty rock-solid for 2020, and there’s no real need to shake anything up currently. Yet, bullpens are never something you want to invest too much money into, and it’s better to just keep replacing parts as the years go on. Who knows, Quantrill could be the team’s next starter or their new closer depending on how the Indians organization wants to utilize Quantrill’s’ skillsets.

It’s possible that Quantrill starts a few times for the Indians this year. The organization and the pitcher in question should be very mindful of how those few opportunities go, because they may change the narrative for Quantrill going forward.