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.

The Cleveland Indians are 33-49 on the season which has them in last place in the A.L. Central, 11.5 games behind the Tigers. The Indians are going to be sellers but they don’t have any big time players to move. Jhonny Peralta, Austin Kearns, Fausto Carmona, Jake Westbrook, Rafael Perez and Kerry Wood will be the best trade chips the Indians have to offer up. The Indians wouldn’t hesitate to move Mike Redmond, Shelley Duncan, Anderson Hernandez and Andy Marte despite likely getting a small return for any of them. The Indians would like some team to take DH Travis Hafner off their hands but I don’t see that happening because of his contract. This will be another depressing July for Cleveland Indians’ fans.

I see the Indians having another fire sale sometime before the trading deadline as I see at least 9 players being sent packing by the Tribe. At least this year they won’t be trading a Cy Young Award winner. Here is what kind of trades I think could go down this summer for the Indians. I see the Mets wanting Jake Westbrook and Mark Grudzielanek and offering the Indians 1B/OF Daniel Murphy and righty Fernando Nieve for them. That is a trade even I would make. Backup catcher Mike Redmond will likely be sent packing to a team like the Dodgers for a C-level prospect or cash considerations. The Mariners might make a play for DH Travis Hafner if the Indians send them a ton of cash in the deal which could net the Indians lefty starting pitcher Ryan Rowland-Smith and 3B Matt Tuiasosopo. The division rival Twins will probably come after Jhonny Peralta with a offer of Alexi Casilla and Kevin Mulvey. The Reds would probably have a huge interest in Kerry Wood and Jamey Wright if the Indians sent them a bunch of cash. The Indians would probably get something back like OF Chris Dickerson and SS Paul Janish. The Yankees might have a interest in Russell Branyan who would fit their stadium like a glove offering the Tribe reliever Mark Melancon. Austin Kearns might be moving to a team like the Giants for 1B Travis Ishikawa and IF/OF Eugenio Velez. I’m not a fan of Indians’ GM Mark Shapiro who almost never gets value back in these kinds of trades so Indians’ fans shouldn’t hold their breath.

The Indians could be willing to make a trade with the New York Mets. The Indians just can’t afford to have three soft tossing lefties in the starting rotation so with that in mind I would think that Jeremy Sowers would be the one they would want to move. The Mets would be interested in him and they also need a catcher which is where Kelly Shoppach comes into play. The Indians have enough depth at catcher to trade Shoppach and Sowers to the Mets. The Indians would likely want a return like 1B/LF Daniel Murphy, backup outfielder Jeremy Reed and infielder Argenis Reyes. This is the kind of trade that could help both teams but it would likely favor the Mets a little bit but Murphy definately has the potential to be the best player in the deal.

It has been a depressing season for the Cleveland Indians but it’s about to get worse. The Indians will likely be helping other teams make playoff pushes while shedding payroll and saying “What until 2012 when the Tribe will be back!”. The teams most likely to make a play for Cliff Lee will be the Angels, Dodgers, Brewers, Mets and Phillies. The Mets don’t like have enough to get a deal done for Lee but they might have some interest in Carl Pavano. The Indians would likely take back Nick Evans or Daniel Murphy from the Mets for Pavano. The Dodgers might have a interest in both Lee and Pavano. They would probably offer something like Blake DeWitt, Ivan DeJesus, Xavier Paul, James McDonald and Cory Wade for both Indians pitchers but that might not be enough to entice them into action. Would the Indians go back to the well in Milwaukee? Only if they could pry Acides Escobar and Mat Gamel from the Brewers and that’s unlikely. The Indians would probably have a interest in trading with the Phillies (for Cliff Lee) if Jason Donald, Carlos Carrasco, Kyle Drabek and Andrew Carpenter were the return. The Tribe would likely kick in Kelly Shoppach if the Phillies included catcher Lou Marson. But the Angels might be the team to deal with about Lee as they could offer Brandon Wood, Sean Rodriguez and Jose Arrondondo for him. It will be interesting to see if the Indians trade Lee because he’s under contract for next season. Victor Martinez has the interest of the Giants and Red Sox. The Giants could probably offer more of a volume of players while the Red Sox could offer the Tribe pitching that they really need. Clay Buchholz, Mike Bowden, Manny Delcarmen. Daniel Bard and Justin Masterson all likely interest the Indians at different levels. If the Giants don’t want to trade enough to get Martinez to play 1B then they might have a interest in someone like Ryan Garko. Jhonny Peralta could also bring the Indians back some decent prospects. The Cardinals and Mariners would likely be the top of the list for Peralta. The Mariners could offer players like Jeff Clement, Rob Johnson, Wladimir Balentien, Ryan Rowland-Smith and Shawn Kelley which would make the Indians listen. Jason Motte and Brad Thompson could be part of the return from the Cardinals who are desperate. The Rockies, Braves and Yankees make sense for Rafael Betancourt. The Cubs have just placed starting catcher Geovany Soto on the D.L. so maybe a package of Kelly Shoppach and Ben Francisco could net them something like Kevin Hart and Jose Ascanio. The Indians might be able to get the Mets interested in Ben Francisco but don’t expect a lot back from them. The Wild Card for the Indians could be the Reds who could have a interest in dealing. They really need help on offense and could have a verying interest in Andy Marte, Ryan Garko and/or Ben Francisco. The Indians would probably target Homer Bailey in return. Other players likely to be moved by the Indians are Kerry Wood, Josh Barfield, Masa Kobayashi and Jamey Carroll. The Indians might as well tear this team down and rebuild it because they are a long way from being a playoff team right now.