Chris Perez is on short list of trade candidates

In his latest blog post, ESPN’s Buster Olney speculates as to a number of young players that could become part of the trade market. Among the names on the list are Philadelphia’s Chase Utley, New York’s John Buck, Chicago’s Matt Garza and Cleveland’s Chris Perez-

“Chris Perez | RHP, Cleveland Indians. He’s making $7.3 million this season, and the Indians were open to trading him during the winter but got little traction. The 27-year-old Perez is off to a good start, and it’s worth remembering that the trade market for relievers appears as if it’s going to be absolutely terrible — an extremely thin group.

Perez does have a lot of experience as a closer for a team looking to fill that spot (St. Louis, for example, knows Perez well, having drafted and developed him). Even if the Indians stay in the AL Central race, they might be open to moving Perez because they have Vinnie Pestano and because Cleveland would seem to be very unlikely to pay Perez the $10 million or so he could get next winter as an arbitration-eligible player.”

This is certainly not the first time we’ve heard rumors about Perez being available for trade. Our own Jon Steiner has advocated a Perez trade for some time, most recently here.

Generally speaking, it is way too early to know which teams will be sellers and which will be buyers at the deadline. If the Indians become buyers, perhaps Garza could be a target for the Indians to consider.


(yardbarker.com)