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Kluber Traded to Rangers

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That's exactly what most of the Indians fans said when they traded Jake Westbrook for... Korey Kluber.

David Justice. David Justice is who we traded for Jake Westbrook. Jake Westbrook is who we traded for Corey Kluber. Corey Kluber is who we traded for Emmanuel Clase. Emmanuel Clase is who we will trade for Joe Burrow, Ohio native, Heisman trophy winner who will be traded for Bronny James. The Ohio life circle will be complete and we will all stop following sports, because champions have been won. RCF will get super into astrology
 
German of Yanks suspended 81 games for spousal abuse. Can we have a do over with Kluber trade and ship him to NY for a bounty?
 
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Well, we we never know for sure.

honestly to me they would have been like Clint Frazier at best. I would prefer Clase over him right now anyways. Not sure if I like Shields in the deal (wanted Solak) but he is at least a very solid 4th OF.
 
Well, we we never know for sure.
Let's not forget, where Kluber was traded too - Texas.
If the destination was never part of equation & trade evaluation, the Tribe would have no qualms sending top level talent to divisional opponents in trade & other divisional rivals (like the Yankees/ Red Sox or Dodgers/ Giants or Cubs/ Cardinals) would make frequent deals between them.
 
Let's not forget, where Kluber was traded too - Texas.
If the destination was never part of equation & trade evaluation, the Tribe would have no qualms sending top level talent to divisional opponents in trade & other divisional rivals (like the Yankees/ Red Sox or Dodgers/ Giants or Cubs/ Cardinals) would make frequent deals between them.
We've made deals with divisional opponents.

I think our front office is concerned with making our team the best it possibly can--not "we can't make the Tigers better."
 
We've made deals with divisional opponents.

I think our front office is concerned with making our team the best it possibly can--not "we can't make the Tigers better."
Yet when was the last time we made a trade to the Tigers, White Sox, or Twins involving an outgoing Indians player of immediate significant talent/upside?
Short of just an overwhelming Godfather type deal, I have a hard time imagining us ever dealing a player of Kluber's stature(let alone Lindor or Clevinger) to a AL Central rival*

*Unless we were in a fully open and acknowledged rebuild
 
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@Out of the Rafters at the Q I have to side with @MirORich on the argument. The Indians will trade with any team, but we haven’t done a blockbuster style deal within the division. It has always been a veteran for prospect swap. Peralta for Soto, Castro for Martin, Pavano for Pino etc. I don’t recall any trade outside of being a swap of players essentially.

If Merrifield was outside the AL central we may have given up the players to get him in my mind, but with him being in KC we will have to deal with those players we give them for a lot of years to come normally.
 
@Out of the Rafters at the Q I have to side with @MirORich on the argument. The Indians will trade with any team, but we haven’t done a blockbuster style deal within the division. It has always been a veteran for prospect swap. Peralta for Soto, Castro for Martin, Pavano for Pino etc. I don’t recall any trade outside of being a swap of players essentially.

If Merrifield was outside the AL central we may have given up the players to get him in my mind, but with him being in KC we will have to deal with those players we give them for a lot of years to come normally.

Your first example (trading Jhonny to the Tigers) is an obvious one where we dealt MLB talent to a division rival.

Just because it doesn't happen often doesn't mean we have a stance against it. The majority of teams are indeed outside our division, so that's where the majority of offers are going to be coming from.

Also, in recent history, the other teams in our division haven't been contenders, so they have no reason to buy MLB-ready talent.

Just so we're clear--If the Tigers/Twins/Royals/Chisox offered the best package for a player, you're going on record as saying you believe the Indians would turn it down?

I don't think our front office's track record indicates a policy that shortsighted would be something they adhere to.
 
Your first example (trading Jhonny to the Tigers) is an obvious one where we dealt MLB talent to a division rival.

Just because it doesn't happen often doesn't mean we have a stance against it. The majority of teams are indeed outside our division, so that's where the majority of offers are going to be coming from.

Also, in recent history, the other teams in our division haven't been contenders, so they have no reason to buy MLB-ready talent.

Just so we're clear--If the Tigers/Twins/Royals/Chisox offered the best package for a player, you're going on record as saying you believe the Indians would turn it down?

I don't think our front office's track record indicates a policy that shortsighted would be something they adhere to.

I mean you will listen to all offers, but outside of player swaps within the division you really have to get a significantly greater offer and/or greatly benefit us in the long run as well.

I mean if you were trying to buy and to let’s say to get Merrifield you needed a package around Jones to get him, would you be more willing to do that deal towards let’s say the Marlins over the Royals even though they are both rebuilding? Most people would say yes towards the Marlins more than the Royals in the Indians case.

The Indians will take the best offer available but trading to much talent to a team within your division can cut down your win potential long term.
 
I mean you will listen to all offers, but outside of player swaps within the division you really have to get a significantly greater offer and/or greatly benefit us in the long run as well.

I mean if you were trying to buy and to let’s say to get Merrifield you needed a package around Jones to get him, would you be more willing to do that deal towards let’s say the Marlins over the Royals even though they are both rebuilding? Most people would say yes towards the Marlins more than the Royals in the Indians case.

The Indians will take the best offer available but trading to much talent to a team within your division can cut down your win potential long term.

I guess it comes down to whether or not you believe that trading prospects to a division rival harms your chances of making the playoffs in the future.

I would say there's no impact--but only because I wouldn't pay extra. If I'm paying fair market value for Merrifield, it doesn't matter if that prospect came from my organization or someone else's.

I'd always want the best return for my players. I'd hang up the phone if another organization told me the price was higher for me than for the rest of the league.
 
Your first example (trading Jhonny to the Tigers) is an obvious one where we dealt MLB talent to a division rival.

Just because it doesn't happen often doesn't mean we have a stance against it. The majority of teams are indeed outside our division, so that's where the majority of offers are going to be coming from.

Also, in recent history, the other teams in our division haven't been contenders, so they have no reason to buy MLB-ready talent.

Just so we're clear--If the Tigers/Twins/Royals/Chisox offered the best package for a player, you're going on record as saying you believe the Indians would turn it down?

I don't think our front office's track record indicates a policy that shortsighted would be something they adhere to.
I’m not saying we have a specific policy in place or that we’d never trade in division as clearly there are circumstances that we have and would.

I think we’d definitely trade good prospects to get an elite or above average major league player from a division rival if they’re in a rebuild and were legit contenders.

But in the current state of constant re-tooling with an aim to compete at minimum for a division title each year, I do not believe we would trade a premium major leaguer like Lindor, JRam, Kluber, or Clevinger to a division rival unless there offer surpassed our best case scenario expectations on trade return. Strictly opinion based reasoning though
 

Thank You, Cleveland
How do you say goodbye to your home? How do you say thank you to 400,000 people?

Cleveland is the only city I’ve known as a major leaguer. Playing for the Indians has been the biggest constant in my professional life. In 10 years there, I pitched pretty well — won some awards and went to the playoffs a few times. It was fun. But just as important as that, Cleveland was where I learned how to be a professional baseball player.

I’ve always been a show-up-and-go-to-work kind of guy, and there isn’t a city better suited to that blue-collar mentality than Cleveland. It’s been a perfect marriage ever since September 1, 2011, when the Indians called me up to the big leagues for the first time.

It was the middle of the night when I got the phone call. I was actually trying to get some sleep while on a bus trip with the Columbus Clippers. We were on our way back home after a road trip to Louisville. This was it, my call-up. The moment I had been waiting for. It was happening. But I was so out of it that I remember the moment but not many specifics. No matter, I was ready. I had to be — I pitched that day.

It took another year of shuttling back and forth before the Indians finally added me to the rotation full-time in 2013. But I’m proud that I always did everything in my power to seize every opportunity and make the most of it. In 10 years in Cleveland, I never stopped doing that.

Everything my teammates and I did was always about trying to bring home a championship — especially after the Cavs won the NBA title in 2016. But that doesn’t mean we had any expectations. It was always about playing that day’s game, about not getting ahead of ourselves. When we went on our run to the World Series a few months later, we didn’t want to think that we had anything in the bag. We were pretty young, and almost no one on that team had playoff experience. Either you let the pressure affect you or you don’t. It might seem obvious, but in the World Series you know you’re still playing when there are 28 other teams that are not. That was the mentality. We’re still playing. One game at a time. You gotta put your head down and get to work.

Cleveland has embraced that mentality for as long as I’ve been there. That’s what people there do every day. As terrible as it felt not to win a championship, it was amazing the way the city embraced the team that year — in a way I can’t quite put into words. The outpouring of support from the entire fan base to the players and their families was special. The fans and the city didn’t beat us up over losing. They supported us.

For me, as the guy who took the hill in the deciding game of the World Series that year, that support was huge. When I started against the Cubs at Progressive Field for Game 7 in November 2016 I wanted to get it done — and there were 38,000 fans in that ballpark who wanted the same thing, too. You could feel it. It was electric.

But, unfortunately, we didn’t get it done. I never blame anyone or anything when things don’t go as planned. Instead, I put my head down and I get back to work. And that’s what we all did after that World Series: We dusted ourselves off, put our heads down and got back to work. That’s what you do when you’re from Cleveland.

There has been speculation that I pitched with injuries during the playoffs. To me, there’s no difference between a night in August and a night in October. If I feel I can help the team win, I’m going to take the ball. Bumps and bruises are part of the game, and I’ll never use them as an excuse if I don’t pitch to the standard I’ve set for myself.

And not pitching because of an injury is exactly what happened to me last year. After I got nailed by that line drive last May I missed the rest of the season. While dealing with my injury, I watched the moves the club was making — and I watched as people wrote us off because of the other injuries we were dealing with and some of the trades we made. That was no fun.

I wanted to play, to help in some way. But as I sat on the sidelines I started to come to terms with the possibility that my days left in my only professional home could be numbered. The time might finally have come to move on. I understand that baseball is a business and I understand how this business works — and I accepted the fact that I could be traded.

So when I got the call last month telling me that I had been dealt to the Texas Rangers, I can’t say I was blindsided. I’m moving on. Cleveland is the only big league city I’ve ever known, and I will always love it and carry it in a special place in my heart. It’s bittersweet to say goodbye, but I am off to a new, exciting chapter in Texas — and looking forward to it. All I can do now is put my head down and go to work again.

But before I go, I want to take the time to say thank you to Cleveland. The things I’ll always remember about this city are my relationships. My relationships with the guys I’ve played with. With the fans. With the trainers. With the people I saw in the clubhouse every day.

There are also relationships away from the ballpark that I will miss. I will miss all the smiling faces at batting practice for Kluber’s Kids. I will miss the patients and staff at Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals. I will miss Ali Rieman, the first patient with whom my wife, Amanda, and I built a close bond, and who inspired us to start our foundation.

Thank you to guys like Lonnie Chisenhall and Yan Gomes and Carlos Carrasco and Josh Tomlin, and all the other Indians teammates who opened their homes to me and my family. Thank you to Wine Bar Rocky River for the postgame hangouts. And thank you to Amanda for raising our three children in the only baseball city they’ve ever known. Cleveland will always be special to me and my family. Amanda is from Massachusetts. I’m from Texas. But for 10 years Cleveland was truly our home.

Thank you to the Indians for a decade of great memories: 2016, the win streak in 2017, 20 wins in 2018. Cleveland is where I became a major league ballplayer, and it’s where I developed my identity as a pitcher. There are a lot of things I’m proud of, a lot of things that we accomplished together. And I’ll never forget any of it.

If you know me, you know that I’m a guy who likes to keep things on the field. And now it’s time for me to get back to work — to get back on the field. I haven’t pitched since May 1. I’ve talked to some guys who have moved on from Cleveland to other teams, and they told me it can be a little weird to go back to Progressive Field and be in the visitor’s clubhouse. But they also say that, in a way, returning to Cleveland in a new uniform gave them a sense of closure.

When I come back to Cleveland next season, I’ll be coming back as a visitor. But I’ll still go over to the Indians’ clubhouse and say hello, still make sure to see all the people I saw every day when I was playing there. I’m excited to be in a new situation, but those things will always be a part of me.

I’ll be back as a Ranger, but I’ll always be from Cleveland.
 

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