The Cleveland Indians have been involved in numerous trade talks with teams interested in their pitching talent. Nothing has come from these talks, and nothing will, with the team not really interested in letting anyone go.
When the Cincinnati Reds were shopping Todd Frazier around, one of the teams they talked to were the Indians, hoping to land Danny Salazar. That turned the Indians off the offer, and Frazier eventually landed with another AL Central team, the Chicago White Sox. Corey Kluber also had a number of teams making offers for him, trying to see if the Indians were willing to talk business. Fewer were interested in Carlos Carrasco. Nothing came of it.
The Indians believe pitching is the key to success, especially with the team being in the bottom 25-percentile in terms of salary. Starting pitching in free agency isn’t something the Indians can compete with, not for the kind of quality they currently have with their top 3, and so the decision to keep the rotation as is without adding someone to the lineup was made. There’s more than just their big three, mostly responsible for the Indians having the second best ERA in the American League last season.
Trevor Bauer, Josh Tomlin and Cory Anderson are great 4-5-6 pitchers to have, and T.J House is healthy after arm problems last season. Mike Clevinger, a prospect a lot of teams were after, is probably going to be promoted from the minors at some point. The 25-year old did very well in the AAA playoffs with Columbus, throwing 15.1 scoreless innings, with 17 strikeouts compared to five hits and only three walks. The Indians are loaded with starting pitching talent, which is just how their manager likes it, believing that under their current limitations, it gives them the best shot of competing in a very difficult division, and maybe making the playoffs.