The Cleveland Indians offense might best be described as mercurial. Or perhaps unorthodox is a more fitting word. The Indians don’t hit a ton of home runs, they don’t hit well for average, they’re in the bottom half of the American League in most offensive categories.
Yet they’re 4th in OBP, 1st in walks, and 1st in stolen bases. They’re manufacturing runs and generally trying to get the job done. However, a power right handed bat would seemingly be the perfect pick up for this offense. ESPN’s Buster Olney agrees and says in his latest column that Carlos Quentin would be a great trade deadline pickup for the Tribe:
Cleveland Indians: He would be a perfect fit in so many ways; Quentin is a right-handed hitter, which the Indians need desperately. But it would not be the Indians’ way to give up prospects for a short-term fix.
He’s right about that last point. Sure, the Indians gave up two top level pitching prospects last year for Ubaldo Jimenez, but that was because the Indians were hoping Ubaldo was hitting his prime and would be in Cleveland for several years. Quentin, a free agent at the end of the season, is currently making $7.03 million this season. Giving up prospect(s) for a several month rental is indeed very un-Indians like. However, if the Indians are still battling for first place and Quentin is viewed as a player who can put the team over the top, who knows how desperate the team will get to make the postseason for the first time since 2007.
[Related: Indians 4 Tigers 2: It's a Ubaldo Sighting!]
I don’t remember there being a lot of criticism for the Cleveland Indians when they traded Milton Bradley following an altercation with manager Eric Wedge in 2004. Maybe it is just a lack of knowledge on my part, but I don’t remember reading any critical words and I don’t remember any of my friends who follow the Tribe batting an eye when the Indians ran him out of town. 
