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I was referring not so much to sixth starters but players that still had some value but were nearing either the end of their careers or the end of contracts that we couldn't afford to keep. Casey Blake for Carlos Santana comes to mind. Blake still had a couple of decent years left and we sold high at age 34. It was one of the best trades this franchise ever made, IMO.I am drawing a blank...how many 6th starters have we traded? Guys like Pestano had good years as a reliever, and Westbrook was a decent/goodl starter (may have been openning day starter in 2010?!?). The Indians have been great at searching the minors of other clubs for potential gems, and I trust they will continue to do the same.
We traded Westbrook at age 32 when he still had some value, like Blake, but was getting long in the tooth. He went 36-32 with a 4.27 ERA for the Cardinals over the next four years. We got Corey Kluber.
Both the Dodgers and Cardinals were contenders who were willing to part with Santana and Kluber for good veteran players who were past their prime but still had some value left. The Pestano for Clevinger deal was similar except we didn't know that Pestano was already done, and neither did the Angels.
Now some may say that those kind of deals will never happen again and trying to replicate them is a "fool's errand". Well, we just traded Kluber for Clase so let's see if we end up the fool on that one. As a Kluber fan I hope he can finish his career more like Westbrook than Pestano.
Plutko is different in that he's still only 28 and has not had anything close to the success Westbrook, Pestano, or Blake had in the majors. But starting pitching is tough to find and Plutko would probably be the Braves' #3 starter the rest of this season. Their rotation now is Fried, Newcomb, Toussant, Wright, and nobody, according to ESPN. Toussaint has a career ERA of 5.24. Wright's career line is 0-4, 7.67. They're both 24. And they have no 5th starter announced.
Are they desparate? Are they looking around for a small market team that has excess starting pitching and a history of trading major league talent for prospects with great success? I don't know, but if I'm the Indians I'm at least going to talk to them rather than assume they won't give anything of value for a legitimate major league starting pitcher.