MLB Rumors: What are the Cleveland Indians options for Carlos Carrasco?

Cleveland Indians starter Carlos Carrasco is winless in his past 17 starts, with a record of 0-12 and an ERA of 8.09. So why is he still in the starting rotation?

The big right-hander hasn’t had a win as a starter since June 29, 2011, and with the Indians sitting at the bottom of the AL Central right now, you’d think removing that type of liability from rotation would be a no-brainer. But Cleveland reportedly don’t plan on anything for right now.

According to MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian, the Indians don’t have a lot in the way of options when it comes to Carrasco.

Carrasco is out of minor league options, so sending him to Triple-A isn’t going to happen. Putting the 27-year-old on the waiver wire, even with his noted struggles, would certainly end up with the Indians getting absolutely nothing. And unless Carrasco shows a lot of improvement in his next couple of starts, trading him isn’t an option either.

So will Cleveland send Carrasco to the pen?

Bastian doesn’t think so, and his reasoning is solid.

"“No one has said anything yet about pulling Carrasco out of the rotation. I still don’t think that’s going to happen right now. The relievers in place are performing well as a whole and Carrasco’s next step, if he’s not going to start, would be to move to the ‘pen…There’s no turning back if Carrasco moves to the ‘pen, though, and that decision would put the Indians one unpredicted injury or setback away from having their rotation depth exposed.”"

For now it looks like the Indians will have to play the waiting game and hope that Carrasco snaps out of this prolonged winless streak.