Cleveland Indians almost traded for Josh Willingham
By Josh Hill
The Cleveland Indians are still trying to stay int he playoff hunt, even if they’re on the very edge of the fringes of the race, but the playoff chase was something on their mind as the team thought about potential trades they didn’t end up making over these last two months.
More from Cleveland Guardians
- MLB standings ordered by hard hit rate: Struggling Cardinals still cracking bats
- MLB Trade Deadline Insider Q&A: Shohei Ohtani, Padres, Cardinals, Brewers
- 3 teams that still wouldn’t be World Series contenders after trading for Shohei Ohtani
- MLB Rumors: Guardians trade deadline hand could be forced by injuries
- Immaculate Grid baseball: Answers, connections, hints for Grid 104 (July 15)
One of the more recent almost-trades involved slugger Josh Willingham, who was acquired by the Kansas City Royals for basically pennies on the dollar from the Twins.
According to Terry Pluto of the Plain Dealer, the Indians thought about acquiring Josh Willingham from the Twins, but ultimately decided that his body might not hold up and didn’t want to trade for him only to have him break down on them.
"The Tribe feared that Willingham’s body was breaking down, and that seems to be the case. When discussing Willingham (and adding $1.8 million to the payroll), the Indians decided they’d rather look at Walters and some of their other prospects."
It’s a fair assessment of Willingham’s situation, but the Indians have been wrong about Willingham before. They offered him a two year contract back in 2011, only to see him take his preferred three year deal with the Twins and have a phenomenal season the following year.
That was three years ago, but the Indians are hoping they didn’t mistake Willingham’s power for a second time.
Be sure to stay glued to FanSided’s MLB Rumors page to stay up to date with the latest action and rumbling from the baseball hot stove this trade season.