There has been a bit of waffling between being buyers and being sellers approaching the trade deadline for the Cleveland Indians. There's a bit of potential for the Indians to end up being big buyers with the latest name to hit the trade market by storm, though.
After trading star shortstop Hanley Ramirez to the LA Dodgers, the Miami Marlins have now been reportedly shopping out their ace pitcher Josh Johnson. There have been several different sources saying that the Marlins could be willing to part with Johnson if the offer is right, including tweets from Jon Heyman and Buster Olney.
Cleveland has reportedly been in the market for good starting pitching to help themselves out in the race for the AL Central title, and Johnson would certainly be a blockbuster move in that regard. They also had sent out a scout to a Marlins game back on Monday, though who exactly they were scouting was never released.
#BlueJays, #Yankees, #SFGiants, #Indians, #Dbacks, #STLCards among teams that had scouts at #Marlins game last night.
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) July 24, 2012
Depending on how the next two games against the Tigers go in their current series, the Indians' attitude toward the trade deadline could change. Win both games and they may have a newfound confidence going forward that might make them think the season won't require a big move. Lose both games and lose more ground, and we could see a blockbuster move for a guy like Johnson coming into Cleveland.
They've certainly not shied away from high profile pitching trades before -- it was fairly recently that they sent top prospects Drew Pomeranz and Alex White to the Colorado Rockies for their ace Ubaldo Jimenez.
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