The Cleveland Indians have been the subject of several trade rumors already this July, mostly circulating around a bat. But a new name has now emerged among the possible targets, and it just happens to be one of the hottest pitchers in baseball. Bruce Levine of ESPN Chicago has the details:
After pitching six shutout innings Saturday in a 4-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks to extend his scoreless innings streak to 33, Chicago Cubs starter Ryan Dempster could not avoid questions about his seemingly inevitable departure from the organization.
With a little more than two weeks until baseball’s trade deadline, 10 teams have shown legitimate interest in acquiring Dempster’s services for the remainder of the season, according to industry sources. Those clubs include the Los Angeles Dodgers, Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox and Atlanta Braves.
On the season, the 35-year-old Dempster is 5-3 with a 1.86 ERA in 14 starts for the Cubbies. He certainly would be the cheaper option compared to his rotation partner Matt Garza, another player the Indians supposedly have been scouting recently.
We’ll see soon if there’s any more traction on these latest rumors. But given the fact the Indians seem to be competing against some of the top spenders in baseball for Dempster’s services, I’d put the odds at fairly doubtful for now.
[Related: Indians All-Star Break Review: The Starting Rotation]
