Old rant from an old guy

 You know, life is too short to troll.   But if I was going to troll someone/group I would troll these beat writers from one of the many on-line publications that cover other ML teams.  

A typical post goes like this:  "_________(insert name of player they think they can steal from the Indians) is a player our team should go after in a trade.   The Indians are looking to trade ________ (insert "pitching" or "hitting") and we have ___________ (insert name of old, broken down, overpaid or injured player).   This trade makes sense since the Indians are _______ (insert euphemisms meaning "cheap" or "stupid"),   I think the Indians would go for this trade and I think ______ (insert name of the writer's team)  would go for it."

These trade proposals are similar to the Jack taking a handful of beans for the family cow.   Although that turned out well for Jack, normally if it looks on the surface like you are getting ripped off, you are probably getting ripped off.

I did find one exception, though.   One of the guys who writes for a Red Sox blog suggested:

Andrew Benitendi plus another player for Zach Plesac.  On the surface that sounds like something an equivalently hacky writer for an Indians blog might suggest.    I know that Benitendi is hurt and may not help this year but it at least makes some sense from my perspective...as an Indians fan who would love to rip off the Red Sox...I mean, make a fair trade with another AL competitor. 

But in reality, I don't know what a good trade would look like for the Indians.   I will mention a couple of thoughts on the subject:

1. The Indians are so high on Triston McKenzie that I hope they don't trade him.   The buzz coming out of extended spring training was palpable regarding McKenzie and I think that they would not be selling high enough if they trade him now.   This guy is not Paul Rigdon.  He is the real deal.  If you got excited about Adam Plutko you were dreaming.   Getting excited about McKenzie seems like a more worthwhile use of time.

2. Trading Clevinger or Plesac makes no sense.   Watching these guys pitch and looking at our competitors' rotations tells me that, while these guys have good intrinsic value, just having the two of them plus Civale, Beiber and McKenzie means we would be in most games if those 5 stayed healthy every year.   Plus they are inexpensive for years to come.  You can build a team around free agency, especially this winter, if you have the rotation and a number of solid bullpen guys.  

3.There is never a better time to trade prospects.  If they come back to bite you in the butt it will be further down the road.   Plus our prospects have a lot of warts.  Take the hyped Nolan Jones, for example.   His splits, which seem pretty extreme to me for a polished guy like him, seem to indicate that he could easily slide into being a platoon player rather than a star down the road.   I think this year is a great time to sell high on most prospects and, except for McKenzie, on EVERY Indians propsect to get controllable guys back who can help the team this year and next year.   

So, there you have it.  Now you have to excuse me as I am going out looking for blog writers for other teams who are proposing stupid trades trying to rip off the pathetic Cleveland Indians who are so stupid they would be willing to take that bag of beans for a prize Hoffer..