The Cleveland Indians are getting close to contending and they could use some tweaks to the roster for 2012.  Here is a trio of players I think the Indians should consider adding to the fold:

1. Carlos Pena – Enough waiting around for Matt LaPorta to come around.  Carlos Pena would bring Gold Glove caliber defense to 1B for the Tribe and that really matters with all of the ground ball pitchers on the team.  He also has huge power and it’s usually from right-center field to the right-field line…..which is the way the wind usually blows out at Progressive Field.

2. Jonny Gomes – Jonny Gomes can handle playing outfield corner slots and he also offers protection should Travis Hafner get hurt again (which is likely).  Gomes has huge power and he plays hard all of the time.

3. Vicente Padilla – The Indians could use another live arm in the pen, and Padilla fits that bill.  He would come at a bargain price due to his recent injury history.

The Indians really need to make a few moves to improve the team by next Sunday’s trade deadline. The Indians should go after one of the following outfielders: Josh Willingham (A’s), Alfonso Soriano (Cubs), Ryan Ludwick (Padres), Carlos Beltran (Mets), B.J. Upton (Rays) and Coco Crisp (A’s). Those kind of outfielders would fill the Indians’ biggest need as they need to pump up the offense. But, they are really short two outfielders, so they should also target a second tier outfielder like Marlon Byrd (Cubs), Kosuke Fukudome (Cubs), David DeJesus (A’s), Jeff Francoeur (Royals), Melky Cabrera (Royals), Angel Pagan (Mets), Juan Rivera (Dodgers) or Corey Patterson (Blue Jays). The Indians need one outfielder who can play CF and another one that can play corner outfield. If it was up to me, I would deal for Alfonso Soriano (providing the Cubs pay most of the salary left on his contract) and either Corey Patterson or Angel Pagan. The Indians are also kicking the tires on starting pitchers like James Shields, Doug Fister, Jason Vargas, Jeremy Guthrie, Erik Bedard, Brett Myers and Chris Capuano. I would think that Shields and Myers are out of the Indians’ range either money wise or prospect wise. They don’t have a lefty in the rotation, so I think they should go with a lefty with Jason Vargas at the top of the list. The Indians need to make improvements on the roster next week if they are going to compete in the A.L. Central the rest of the year.

Starting pitching is going to be hard to find on the trade market due to high prices. With that in mind, I think the Indians ought to offer the Mets a deal that would be hard for them to refuse. I think the Indians should offer 2B/SS Luis Valbuena and OF Ezequiel Carrara to the Mets for lefty starting pitcher Chris Capuano and outfielder Scott Hairston. Capuano has pitched really well this season and the Indians don’t have a lefty in the starting rotation. The Tribe simply can’t keep running Fausto Carmona out to the mound every day, as he is stinking it up this year. Scott Hairston would help out the Indians in the outfield where they have been having some troubles as Austin Kearns isn’t even hitting his weight this year. Carrara and Valbuena would give the Mets a couple of young players that they could call up right away. This deal makes almost too much sense to have a chance of happening.

The Indians top prospect (Lonnie Chisenhall) is in AAA ball and the Indians are probably thinking hard about bringing him up to replace Jack Hannahan. Hannahan has done a good job defensively but the Indians’ offense isn’t good enough right now to carry him. I think the Indians should be on the hunt for a stopgap type 3B for only this year. Wilson Betemit, Casey Blake and Jorge Cantu are three veterans who make perfect sense for the Indians to go after. It likely wouldn’t cost the Indians much in prospects, so I think they need to make a move. I think any of those teams would jump to make a deal if the Indians offered them Luis Valbuena for one of those guys.

With the trading deadline quickly coming up I would trade Jake Westbrook. Sure the Indians say that they want him back in 2011. Well there’s nothing saying they can’t re-sign him because he’s going to be a free agent. The Mets are desperate for a starting pitcher so I would deal them Westbrook for 2B/SS Ruben Tejada, righty starting pitcher Kyle Allen and righty reliever Bobby Parnell. Then I would flip lefty reliever Rafael Perez to the Tampa Bay Rays for righty starter/reliever Andy Sonnanstine. Finally I would deal outfielder Austin Kearns to the San Francisco Giants for IF/OF Eugenio Velez and OF/1B John Bowker. These trades make perfect sense to the Indians as Sonnanstine would replace Westbrook in the rotation, Parnell would help the pen and Bowker and Velez would give them more versatility on the major league roster. Ruben Tejada and Kyle Allen are very highly thought of prospects and the Indians would be lucky to get them.