The 2019-2020 offseason was a big one for starting pitching. In addition to two aces hitting the free agent market in Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg, a two-time Cy Young Award winner in Corey Kluber was on the trade block. Sure, Kluber had a rough 2019 season, posting a 5.80 ERA (4.06 FIP) in seven starts — highlighted by him missing most of the season with an arm fracture and abdominal tightness — but he was one season removed from his third straight top-three finish in the Cy Young voting.
In one of the rare lose-lose trades, Cleveland flipped him for Delino DeShields Jr.