Trade Destinations for Trevor Bauer If the Indians Become Sellers

At 53-40, the Cleveland Indians are tied for the second American League Wild Card spot and are five games behind the Minnesota Twins in the AL Central. The Tribe came into the year with big expectations after deep playoff runs in each of the last two seasons, and remain within striking distance of the MLB postseason.

As we creep closer to the July 31 MLB Trade Deadline, more and more trade rumors begin to surround Trevor Bauer. This season has been a disappointing one for Bauer, who came into the season with AL Cy Young Award aspirations after finishing sixth in voting last year. At 8-7 with a 3.65 ERA, Bauer has been solid, but not dominant, by any means.

If the Indians turn into sellers before the deadline, here are five teams that would likely come calling for the right-hander's services.

5. San Diego Padres

The Padres are one team that could offer a mutually beneficial trade to the Indians in exchange for Bauer. They have multiple young outfielders and pitchers in their top 30 prospects that they could offer for Bauer, and the right-hander is the type of pitcher that could affect the NL Wild Card race.

4. Philadelphia Phillies

Adding Bauer would make sense for the Phillies, as they have the fourth-worst team ERA in the National League (4.74) coming into play Wednesday. Considering that the Phillies have now slipped into the second NL Wild Card spot, Philadelphia likely needs to make a big move if it wants to keep its playoff hopes alive. The Phillies also have a plethora of Minor League outfield talent that might play well in a deal with the Indians, as that's a hole in Cleveland's farm system.

3. Atlanta Braves

The Braves have a 6.5-game lead in the NL East coming into play Wednesday and look poised to compete in October. While the team did well to sign Dallas Keuchel earlier in the season, the Braves still rely heavily on a young, inexperienced pitching staff. The team's 4.20 ERA still has room to improve, and adding Bauer would almost certainly help.

2. Chicago Cubs

Despite being in first place in the National League Central, the Cubs have struggled to find consistency from the arms in their rotation this year. Yu Darvish and Jose Quintana have ERAs over 4.00, and adding a power right-hander like Bauer could push the Cubs to the next level. Plus, Bauer potentially could help balance out a left-hand heavy Cubs' rotation in a playoff series.

1. New York Yankees

With a 60-33 record, the Yankees seemingly don't have much they desperately need to improve on. However, if GM Brian Cashman does upgrade one aspect of the team's roster, it'll likely be starting pitching. As Bauer would be one of the biggest fish out there, it would be absolutely shocking if the Yankees didn't at least make a call to the Indians prior the deadline. While the Indians might want to ship Bauer to the NL, the ability of the Yankees' prospects might outweigh shipping their electric right-hander to another AL team.

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Leo Abbe-Schneider is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Leo Abbe-Schneider also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username leoabbe2. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.