Cleveland, OH (92.3 The Fan) – The Indians traded for catcher Kevin Plawecki on Sunday afternoon. He’s expected to be Roberto Perez’s backup.
“We’re excited to add Kevin to our Major League catching mix,” Indians’ President Chris Antonetti said. “It’s a guy who’s earned a reputation as a really good teammate, a good receiver and leads the pitching staff really well. We also believe there’s some upside with him offensively and we like his ingredients to hit and think he can be a contributing member to our team.”
Fans will consider it a minor trade, but could it lead to more? The Indians are going to make more moves. They could address their weaknesses in free agency or trade a starting pitcher.
“We’ll continue to look for opportunities to improve,” Antonetti said. “Exactly where that will be remains to be seen, but we’ve been very active on the trade front over the last few weeks. I think specifically since the holidays ended and we turned the page on the New Year I would say conversations throughout the league have intensified and we’re hopeful we’ll be able to make a few more additions to our organization of the course of the next few weeks.”
There are plenty of free agent relief pitchers and outfielders available that could help this team. The Indians could also trade Corey Kluber or Trevor Bauer. Both players have been mentioned in trade rumors all season long. Some believe the Indians want to trade one of their star pitchers. That may not be the case.
“I’m not sure that I’ve ever said that we’ve felt a need to trade one of those guys,” Antonetti said. “I’ve never felt that way.”
Those comments come just days after MLB Network’s Ken Rosenthal said the odds that Bauer or Kluber get traded seem to “diminish by the day.”
The chances of a Corey Kluber and/or Trevor Bauer trade appear to be decreasing each day according to @Ken_Rosenthal. #MLBHotStove pic.twitter.com/nXYwIhPuDO
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) January 4, 2019Corey Kluber’s agent, B.B. Abbott, told us on @MLBNetworkRadio last week that he believes the closer we move toward Spring Training, the less likely a Kluber trade becomes. @MLB @MLBNetwork
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) January 6, 2019The Indians are open for business on the trade front, but it doesn't mean they'll make another deal. It'll be interesting to see how the front office decides to improve the team over the next few weeks.
