In today's Indians rumors and news update, the Cleveland Indians are reportedly one of three teams pursuing San Diego Padres reliever Joaquin Benoit in advance of the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline.
Per CBS Sports' Jon Heyman, "the Tigers, Pirates and Indians are showing interest in Padres reliever Joaquin Benoit, though a trade of Benoit isn't quite a certainty."
Heyman is unsure as to whether or not the Indians consider themselves buyers at this point, but it's not altogether a reach seeing that the Tribe sat just two games out of the AL's second Wild Card heading into play on Monday.
While the San Diego Padres received an impressive trade package from the Angels for closer Huston Street, they'd be hard-pressed to match such a deal for Benoit. Benoit has electric stuff himself, but will likely be assessed a different (and smaller) trade value than Street on the market because of his reputation as a setup man and spot closer.
The Padres could also decide to stray away from trading Benoit altogether, seeing as they would be left scrambling at the back of their bullpen in the absence of both Benoit and Street.
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