The Cleveland Indians are stuck in that weird situation that most American League teams find themselves in right now -- unsure whether to be buyers or sellers before the MLB trade deadline on July 31st. While it's a confusing time for the glut of teams bunched up in Wild Card contention, we figured we'd try to clear things up a little with 3 Trades The Cleveland Indians Could Make Before The Deadline.
1. Trade OF David Murphy for mid-level prospects
Murphy will not command a top-150 prospect from any team on the market (except maybe the desperate New York Mets), but the idea here would be to offload the rest of Murphy's $6 million this year and his $600,000 buyout on his 2016 team option. Such extra financial flexibility would help the Tribe hold onto irreplaceable pieces like Carlos Santana and Brandon Moss. Dealing Murphy off while emphasizing how much he kills right-handed pitching (.307/.357/.458) to a team in need of added lineup oomph would add some intriguing young talents to the mix in a hit-and-miss farm system.
2. Trade OF Ryan Raburn for mid-level prospects
Same story as Raburn, except Raburn is the lesser-used side of the platoon and is on the hook for the rest of his $2.5 million in 2015 (and the exact $600,000 buyout for 2016 that Murphy has). The selling point here is Raburn's robust .879 OPS in 140 plate appearances, mostly against lefties. The sour taste of his 2014 dud is out of the mind of scouts and front office exec, especially those looking for a major boost against southpaws off the pine.
3. Trade mid-level prospect package for Brewers 3B Aramis Ramirez
Ramirez would be a marginal-to-solid upgrade at third base over inconsistent rookie Giovanny Urshela. While Ramirez is hitting just .234 with 10 home runs, 17 doubles and 39 RBI, he has a propensity to go on a major hot streak at the plate at almost any time. He's done it his whole career. Case in point, Ramirez was named NL Player of the Week right before the All-Star Break after hitting an eye-popping .545 with 11 RBI.
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