On August 7, 2015, the Indians made a savvy waiver deal that helped set themselves up for contention in 2016.
Last year at this time, the Cleveland Indians were the basement-dwellers of the American League Central. They were 49-58, 14 games back in the division, and coming off a 2-1 series loss to the Los Angeles Angels. Although they would make a surprise push in late August and into September, whatever playoff aspirations the Tribe had at this point were mostly gone. So, naturally, they began looking ahead.
Two of the most disappointing players on the roster, Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn, were owed a combined $29 million in 2016, with vesting options potentially making them owed a combined $26 million in 2017 if they each had significant playing time.