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

Got rid of a bad influence

One of the biggest complaints that seem to be reported from the media over the last few weeks, is how bad of an influence Mike Clevinger has been on guys. His “best friends” during his tenure in Cleveland were Zach Plesac and Trevor Bauer. Not exactly the kind of guys you can rely on.

Sure, all three are good pitchers, but Plesac and Clevinger had no respect for others, and that was on display with their decisions in Chicago. With Bauer, he was constantly airing his grievances publically, putting his ability to do his job in jeopardy (remember the hand injury he had working on a drone?) and has largely been someone who rubs people the wrong way.

Sure, each man has their fans, but all three seem to be instigators.

So getting rid of Clevinger really helped take a lot of the day-to-day annoyances off the books so to speak. It seems entirely likely that Plesac will be out the door in the winter, which would be nothing but a good thing if they can get even half of the hall for Plesac as they did for Clevinger.

The Indians under manager Terry Francona have been propelled forward by chemistry and comradery. It was Nick Swisher’s MO, it was Mike Napoli’s MO, and it needs to be the 2020’s MO. Maybe no more than in past years. Staying united in the face of a global pandemic, a commissioner who’s asleep at the wheel, and 29 other teams looking to take a crown you’ve been striving 70 years for is paramount.

You can’t win without the respect of one another and when you blatantly disrespect your teammates and show such little concern for them, then you gotta go. There’s nothing more that needs to be said about it.