Cleveland Indians: 6 trades targeted by The Athletic’s Jim Bowden

The Cleveland Indians are off to their best start since the 2007, a year in which the Tribe won the Central and came within a game of going to the World Series.

Their 38-29 record has been a pleasant surprise, considering the rash of injuries impacting the starting rotation, and the lack of production in the lineup over the course of the first two months of the season.

Alas, the Tribe is 3.5 back on June 19, and Terry Francona’s group should do enough to stay competitive heading into next month’s All-Star break and through the dog days of summer.

We’ve all got trade scenarios we’d like to see. Ketel Marte was a name thrown out by a national writer. So was Mitch Haniger’s. What we’d like to see and what’s realistic are two very different things, though.

The Indians can’t make a trade where the organization takes on a massive contract in return. Nor will the Tribe mortgage the future, as prospects are the lifeblood of an organization that simply can’t spend.

The Athletic’s Jim Bowden tossed around some trade possibilities (subscription required), and the former GM did a solid job of being realistic when looking at the trade market through the eyes of Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff.

Here’s six players Bowden mentioned as potential candidates the Tribe should pursue, as he wrote the Tribe “Needs to do something” ahead of the trade deadline.