Not nearly as popular as some of the starting pitchers that the Tampa Bay Rays have to offer as the trade deadline nears the witching hour, but the Cleveland Indians are among several teams that have contacted the Tampa Bay Rays for positional availability among their players.
After a disappointing season with the Baltimore Orioles in 2015 (.218, 15-HR, 40-RBI), the Tampa Bay Rays President of Operations Matt Silverman took a gamble on Steve Pearce that he could return to his breakout season of 2014 when he hit .293 with 23 homers and 49 RBIs.
Another reason for the gamble was that Pearce always enjoyed hitting a Tropicana Field batting .