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The New York Yankees continued the dismantling of their bullpen early Sunday:
BREAKING: Andrew Miller to #Indians.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 31, 2016
No word yet on who the Yankees are getting in return. Late last night, Ken Rosenthal also reported another Indians trade:
BREAKING: #Brewers, #Indians in agreement on Lucroy. He still must approve trade.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 31, 2016
Jonathan Lucroy, as noted, has a limited no-trade clause and must consent to go to Cleveland. Here's part of the package going to the Brewers:
#Brewers trade Lucroy to the #Indians in a package that includes Francisco Mejia, @JonHeyman reports: https://t.co/kYQsRL0AaI
— Today's Knuckleball (@KnuckleballFRS) July 31, 2016
And more:
Source confirms: #Yankees get four players from #Indians, including Sheffield and Frazier. First with those names: @Buster_ESPN.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 31, 2016
These moves show that the Indians are apparently going "all-in" on this season, bolstering both their bullpen and offense. The Tribe currently lead the A.L. Central by 4½ games over the Tigers and are virtually tied with the Rangers for the best record in the American League, 17 games over .500. And here's why the Yankees suddenly divested themselves of Miller:
yankees higherups made the call to sell while watching team lose 2 straight to last-place rays.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 31, 2016
Where does this leave the Cubs, with one day to go? There have been rumors the team is interested in Oakland's Josh Reddick, but that's apparently not happening:
something heard: reddick is not too likely to go to dodgers, wont be going to cubs
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 30, 2016
With the addition of Chris Coghlan to the Cubs' roster a couple of days ago, I'd agree with Heyman. The Cubs don't really need Reddick and he's spent some time on the DL this year. I'd guess the Athletics' asking price is probably too high.
There are some rumors that the Cubs have been looking at Rays starting pitching. Starting pitching is one of the Cubs' strengths, so I'm not sure why they'd need to make a deal like that. Over the offseason, perhaps, in order to get more team-controlled arms, but not now. If I had to guess, I'd say the Cubs will make no further trades before 3 p.m. CT on Monday.
That should give you enough to ruminate over this morning with a day to go until the non-waiver trade deadline. Feel free to use this post as an all-purpose trade talk post until the Cubs game tonight against the Mariners.