Cleveland Indians: With 2021 hanging in balance, trade needed now

The Cleveland Indians are one of the most creative teams in baseball, few clubs can do more with less, yet I don’t know how the front office can stand pat following the shoulder strain suffered by ace Shane Bieber

With just one legitimate  starter in the rotation, the Tribe sits 4.5 games behind the White Sox (through Monday, June 14).

If the Indians had the arms the rotation’s boasted for the last six or seven years, you might think they’d have a chance to win the division, which is why the Tribe needs a deal now. Since Cleveland is currently playing the Orioles, can Adam Plutko be the player to be named later in the trade that made him an Oriole.

Yes, I”m aware Plutko isn’t exactly on a path toward the Cy Young in Baltimore. He’s used mostly as a reliever and has a 5.33 ERA, but you get the point. The Indians need someone to give them five, or heck, I”ll take four innings at this point.

Cleveland Indians need to find help somewhere

J.C Mejia did just that in the series opener against Baltimore, giving up four runs and two runs, while striking out three and walking one in the process.

Surely the Indians are going to go the path of the Rays by deploying “The Opener” strategy, which is a bullpen game. Tito can’t go to this well everyday though, which leads you to wonder what the heck they’re going to do.

Cleveland has four spots to fill and two guys to do it (Civale, opener). Something’s gotta give!

This one thing I know to be true: They can’t keep yanking Triston McKenzie around. He needs some serious work in the minors. Bouncing him between Columbus and Cleveland will only slow his development. He’ll tease you just enough to warrant more big-league starts, but the next time around, he won’t make it out of the first. Do the kid a favor and let him simmer.

Eli Morgan will likely get a shot. He was shelled in his big-league debut by the Blue Jays, but had to pitch in some of the worst weather conditions of the season. I’ll be stunned if Morgan isn’t recalled because the organization has to turn to someone.

The obvious solution here is a trade, but how many deals go down in June? Plus, how many teams are looking to give away quality starters? The answer is none. And for the Max Scherzer Twitter pleas….there’s no way it’s happening unless the Nationals eat most of the $34 million he’s earning this season.

It’s a shame the state of the rotation has come to this, but there was just no way the Tribe’s development staff was going to be able to replicate what they did with Bieber, Civale and Zach Plesac after the 2016 draft.

If the Tribe doesn’t make a deal, their silence will go along way in confirming what I believe to be true this year, being that the plan was to always to develop players, figure out who can play, and hopefully hang around the standings.

In the case of position players such as Josh Naylor, Amed Rosario and Bobby Bradley (so far), it’s working.

Unfortunately, the next wave of pitchers didn’t take the next step, and that may mean taking some bumps and bruises on the mound.