Carlos Carrasco Trade Rumors: Latest Buzz, Speculation Surrounding Indians SP

Mike ChiariJul 23, 2015

There is no shortage of quality starting pitchers on the block as the July 31 MLB non-waiver trade deadline approaches, and it looks as though Cleveland Indians righty Carlos Carrasco has entered the fray.

Continue for updates.

Cubs Join Race For Carrasco

Friday, July 31

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reported the Cubs have had discussions with the Indians for Carrasco, although he noted the Chicago team was one of several who had been in contact with them about a trade.

Report: Indians, Blue Jays Have Discussed Carrasco Deal

Thursday, July 23

According to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports, Carrasco's name has come up in trade talks with the Toronto Blue Jays emerging as the likeliest candidate to land him.

This is despite the fact that Indians general manager Chris Antonetti recently expressed a lack of interest in shipping his best pitchers out of town, per Paul Hoynes of Northeast Ohio Media Group:

"We are not motivated at all to do that," Antonetti said.

It is difficult to gather why Cleveland would want to trade Carrasco considering he is just 28 years old and under team control through the 2020 season, according to Spotrac.com.

Carrasco is 10-7 this season, and while his 3.94 ERA doesn't jump off the page, luck hasn't exactly been on his side. As Drew Silva of NBCSports.com pointed out, his fielding independent pitching, which is a representation of a pitcher's true ERA when taking fielding out of the equation, is better than the other top pitchers available on the trade market since last year:

The Venezuelan star boasts a 2.81 FIP this season, per FanGraphs, and he has also struck out 128 batters in 114.1 innings, which speaks to his dominant stuff.

One can only assume that Cleveland would receive a massive package of prospects in return for a player like Carrasco, but trading him would be a sign to the fanbase that the Indians are giving up on 2015 and perhaps even conceding that they won't be contenders anytime soon.

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