Indians' Return in Corey Kluber Trade is Embarrassingly Light

It was only a matter of time before Corey Kluber got traded. Coming off an injury-riddled 2019 season, he was still one of the most appealing starting pitchers on the trade market, and the Cleveland Indians were eager to get rid of him.

But, in their haste to ship him out, they seem to have settled for far too little.

In exchange for sending their two-time AL Cy Young winner to the Texas Rangers, they received a paltry return of just outfielder Delino DeShields and reliever Emmanuel Clase.

It's borderline pathetic how little they got for him. Yes, he's coming off of a brutal season, but 2019 is a massive outlier in an otherwise stellar career.

The Indians literally exchanged one of the best starters in baseball for a fourth outfielder with a career .246/.326/.342 slash line and a 21-year-old relief pitcher. For some perspective, their combined career fWAR of 5.2 is worse than four of Kluber's six seasons with 100 or more innings pitched.

And it's not even like his contract is cumbersome. He's due $17.5 million next year with a club option of $18 million for 2021. If anything, it's a total bargain of a deal. The Indians settled for far too little in this deal.

Yes, they're in desperate need of help in the outfield, and yes, a reliever who throws a triple-digit cutter is nice to have, but when the price to get those things is your best pitcher over the last six years, something went wrong.

Cleveland should be ashamed of itself for giving up so much for so little.