MLB Trade Rumors: Cleveland Indians not interested in a rental?

The Cleveland Indians are a team that could throw a serious wrench in the dynamics of the MLB trade deadline. Sitting with a 51-51 record, they could still conceivably be buyers at the trade deadline with one of the American League Wild Card spots in reach.

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They might not be named often as the top landing spot for headline-grabbing players on the trade market, but they continue to lurk as potential suitors for headline grabbing guys like David Price, even if such a deal is very unlikely.

The motivation for those deals, among other things, might be the fact that the Indians are not interested in a rental player. With the “rental” trades falling out of fashion in recent years, the Indians are one team that only wants to give up value in a trade if their return is a player under team control for multiple years.

According to Jim Bowden.

Those multiple years of control could even just be a chance to keep a player through the 2015 season so as to have a chance to sign the guy long term. It might potentially cost them more in prospects, but it is still a sound approach to take for an in-between team like the Indians.

If you are a team on the fringe of the playoff picture, giving up value to go “all in” can be too risky to be worth acquiring a rental. The is the dilemma for the Indians and another AL Central team, the Kansas City Royals, as the deadline approaches.