MLB Trade Speculation: Why the Cleveland Indians Shouldn't Trade Grady Sizemore

Since the 2010 season ended, Cleveland Indians outfielder Grady Sizemore has been the subject of many trade rumors and much speculation.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. The once elite talent and future of the Cleveland Indians has slowly but surely become just another failed dream.

Like many who came before him (Joe Charboneau, Herb Score, Andy Marte, etc.), it seems that Sizemore will never fulfill his great potential.

Or will he?

Many Indians fans are sick of Sizemore and want to see him traded at all costs. Over the past two weeks, there have been three articles published on Bleacher Report (one from Cory Holibaugh, another from Chris Zanon and a final one from Robert Gartrell) on potential Sizemore trade scenarios. I even wrote one way back in December on prospects we could potentially get in return.

Despite the public outcry for Sizemore to be traded, I don't think we should get rid of him. I think that, collectively, we've lost track of how serious Sizemore's knee surgery was.

Microfracture surgery is much more common in basketball than it is in baseball. While it's easy to list NBA players who have had microfracture surgery (Amar'e Stoudemire, Greg Oden, Jason Kidd, Zach Randolph), it's very new to baseball.

Back in 2005, when Stoudemire had microfracture surgery, it was considered a much more serious procedure than it is today. By comparing Stoudemire's career arc to Sizemore's, maybe we can find out if Grady can regain his elite form.

Amar'e had the surgery in October 2005, before the 2005-06 season. He briefly tried to return in March 2006 before being shut down for the rest of the season. By the time the 2006-07 season rolled around, about 12 and a half months after the initial surgery, Amar'e resumed his elite career.

Sizemore's loud return to baseball this April was a cause for joy in Cleveland. Before his second DL stint of the year, Sizemore was boasting a .282/.333/.641 slash line, a .974 OPS, 6 HR and 11 RBI. Since coming back on May 27 though, Sizemore has dropped to a .203/.275/.343 slash line, a .618 OPS, 3 HR and 16 RBI.

So what's it all mean? Since Sizemore had his microfracture on June 4, 2010, he returned to baseball after only 10 and a half months recovery. Add in the technical nature of baseball (compared to basketball) and I think we've found the root of Sizemore's problems.

His knee is just now reaching full health, but as evidenced by his stolen base total this year (none), Sizemore doesn't fully trust his knee yet. By Opening Day 2012, I suspect that this issue will be completely in the past.

Beyond the knee, hitting a baseball is arguably the hardest thing to do in sports. Just because Sizemore's able to play doesn't mean that he's in proper form. From April 17 to May 10, Grady showed that the old Sizemore's still in there; now he's just working to get it back more consistently.

The 2011 season was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Cleveland Indians; can we blame Grady for using it for its previously intended purpose?

I'm as excited as anyone that the Tribe are competing ahead of schedule, but long-term, we need Sizemore. When he's right, he's one of the best players in this league. Using Stoudemire as a case study, we see that Sizemore can probably get there. 

Even if he doesn't, what are the Indians losing out on keeping him around? If they're truly convinced he won't make it back, they can let him walk after this year for a measly $500,000 buyout. If they want to keep him for one more year, it'll only cost $8.5 million.

That's a hefty sum, but it's easy to find the money to cover it. By not exercising Fausto Carmona's $7 million 2012 team option and seeing Austin Kearns and his $1.3 million 2011 contract go, we've raised $8.3 million for Grady. Seems good enough for me to give Sizemore one more chance at getting it back together.

The biggest reason not to trade Sizemore is simple, though: you want to sell high, not low. Who's buying Sizemore at even half the price he would have commanded three years ago? Trading him now will net us an average prospect at best. No one is burning down the phone lines to get Sizemore.

If we show a little more patience with Sizemore, I really do think he'll reward it. Remember that great feeling we had at the beginning of the year when the team was winning and Sizemore was hot? It'll happen again if we don't make a panic trade. 

Grady Sizemore shouldn't move anywhere; he belongs in Cleveland.