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The Cincinnati Reds made headlines Thursday with two big trades in which they parted with two of their five starting pitchers from the 2014 season.

The Reds’ first move, as reported by Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal, was to send Alfredo Simon to the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers’ Twitter account announced that the team had acquired Simon in exchange for shortstop Eugenio Suarez and right-handed pitcher Jonathon Crawford. The second deal, broken again by Rosenthal, involved potential ace Mat Latos heading to Miami in exchange for prospects Anthony DeSclafani and Chad Wallach.

The moves were made in an effort to free up payroll to either bring in a left fielder (maybe Michael Morse or Norichika Aoki?) or to help sign Johnny Cueto to a long-term extension—or both!

Either way, these two deals will have a major impact on the Reds’ immediate and long-term future, so it’s important to know what they got back for those two rotation pieces, yes? Yes.

So beginning with Suarez, here are scouting reports for each of the four players the Reds acquired on the final day of the winter meetings.

All stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.

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It’s almost awards season!

So, who should win X or Y end-of-season-award? It’s one of the most exciting, and debatable topics of the season, and since the minor league season is over, we can replicate that to some extent while looking at the Cincinnati Reds farm system.

Though the season was filled with some mixed results from top prospects, there are plenty of players who deserve recognition for their outstanding accomplishments.

In this piece, I took the major end-of-season awards—excluding Silver Slugger and Gold Glove Awards—and applied them directly to the Reds farm system. So, going through this slideshow will give you a detailed look at the system’s Rookie of the Year, Delivery Man, Cy Young, Hank Aaron and Most Valuable Player Award winners.

Let’s get to it.

All stats are current through Sept. 16, 2014 and are courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.

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When the rosters expanded in early September, the Cincinnati Reds‘ transaction report was loaded with prospects. Unfortunately, many of the top names fans might have hoped to see grace the list (e.g., Robert Stephenson, Ben Lively and Michael Lorenzen) were nowhere to be found.

Even so, there are two prospects—maybe a third in Carlos Contreras—who could have solid yet very different futures at the big league level.

The rest of the group looks to be composed of role players, a possible career minor leaguer or two and possible trade fodder.

So, to keep it interesting, we’ll look at said two players and analyze some of the early takeaways from this group of September call-ups.

Yorman Rodriguez Is the Only Every-Day Player from This Group

This might be cheating on my part, since Yorman Rodriguez hasn’t had a many opportunities to showcase his skills since being called up to the big league level—the 21-year-old has received just three at-bats, all of which came in one game where he played just six innings—but I’m going to talk about him anyway.

Even so, based on the efforts put forth by the rest of the group, it’s pretty clear that Rodriguez is the only one with a legitimate chance to become an every-day player—unless you count Carlos Contreras and his future as a middle reliever.

In any event, Rodriguez has a pretty bright future ahead of him. The young outfielder possesses four above-average tools as well as an average—and still developing—hit tool.

Despite what his nine jacks this season might tell you, Rodriguez has plus raw power. The Venezuela native showcased that power over the season’s final 14 games for Double-A Pensacola, collecting four of his nine home runs in just 51 at-bats.

Rodriguez put on a show over those 14 games. In addition to his four home runs, Rodriguez totaled a batting line of .353/.453/.706 with six doubles, 11 RBI, 18 runs and a healthy 10-11 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

2014 was a learning experience for the six-year professional. Although he struggled through the first half of his season—he slashed .251/.293/.351 in that time—he turned it on through the second half, slashing .270/.364/.423 over his second set of 59 games while also collecting 18 of his 40 RBI and 15 of his 20 doubles.

In addition to the offensive game described above, which includes stellar bat speed and improving pitch-recognition skills, Rodriguez has plus speed and a plus arm to go along with above-average fielding ability.

Although he committed seven errors on the year—a full-season career high—Rodriguez flashed what has the potential to be one of the better arms in professional baseball, logging a ridiculous 13 outfield assists over 114 appearances in the field.

Rodriguez’s second half performance at Double-A suggests that he could be in line for a potential early-season debut in 2015, and he has the tools to make it a reality.

Tucker Barnhart Has a Big League Future

Just because I said Rodriguez is the only everyday player who was called up this fall doesn’t mean that there isn’t a potential role player or two stashed away in the transaction report. Of the players not named Rodriguez, Tucker Barnhart stands the best chance to have a long-lasting MLB career.

In 15 games with the big league club—this is his third stint with the team this season—Barnhart has flashed the ability of a very capable backup catcher.

Barnhart is never going to hit for average, and he made that quite clear with his performance following his promotion from High-A Bakersfield. In his 775 at-bats since his promotion back in 2012, Barnhart has managed a .244 batting average with on-base and slugging percentages of .323 and .327, respectively.

Barnhart will at least give himself a shot to get hits, however, as he does a fantastic job of controlling the strike zone, putting the bat on the ball and limiting his strikeouts. In 422 career minor league games, Barnhart logged just a 15.5 percent strikeout rate while walking at a healthy 10.8 percent clip.

Even so, he’s not going to hit for an average against more advanced pitchers. What he will do, however, is control the running game.

Over 406 games as a catcher in the minors, Barnhart put up a caught-stealing percentage of 42 percent. Among big league catchers with at least 700 innings behind the plate this season, Barnhart‘s 42 percent caught-stealing rate would rank second best—Yadier Molina’s 51 percent mark is far and away the best.

One final note on Barnhart and his ability to impact the running game: In his 102 innings behind the plate this season for the Reds, the Indiana prep product boasts a ridiculous 57 percent caught-stealing rate.

All stats are current through play on Sept. 8, 2014 and are courtesy of Baseabll-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.

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The Cleveland Indians were one of the more active teams at the July 31 trade deadline.

The club entered the deadline in a curious position, sitting 6.5 games back of the division-leading Detroit Tigers and five games back of the final AL wild-card spot. Without all the necessary pieces to make a serious run at the division, the Tribe chose to ship off two of their more high-profile players.

Justin Masterson was the first to go, and the club moved him to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for outfielder James Ramsey.

The second deal saw Asdrubal Cabrera move to the Washington Nationals in exchange for infielder Zach Walters.

Neither deal was groundbreaking in any way, but we’ll take an in-depth look at both trades and grade them, and we’ll also grade the team’s performance at the deadline as a whole. Let’s get started.

Indians Get: James Ramsey, Cardinals Get: Justin Masterson

It doesn’t seem like the Indians were ever actually going to extend Masterson. There were numerous reports throughout the season that the two sides had discussed an extension, but nothing major came out of those talks. Because of that, dealing Masterson was the best thing the team could do.

Unfortunately for the front office, the 29-year-old pitched the Indians right out of a much bigger return package by posting a 5.51 ERA and a 1.65 WHIP over his first 19 starts in 2014. Where teams like the Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox were able to bring in big returns for some of their pitchers, the Indians had to settle for Ramsey and Ramsey only.

Ramsey earns high marks for his IQ and leadership qualities. The 24-year-old was captain of the Florida State University baseball team and was also a Rhodes Scholar nominee, per the Baseball America Prospect Handbook.

As far as his abilities on the field are concerned, he is average across the board and has the potential for a plus run tool.

At the plate, Ramsey and his future present a little more of a question mark. He sees the ball very well and draws walks at an above-average rate, with a 12.6 percent walk rate in the minors. He also strikes out quite a bit, though, averaging a 24 percent strikeout rate in 1,024 minor league plate appearances.

Because of this, Ramsey is an inconsistent hitter. He’s had a lot of success this season, slashing .300/.389/.527 through 281 plate appearances, but his 23.5 percent strikeout rate shows that things haven’t changed all that much.

Ramsey has shown some decent pop for a center fielder, logging 16 and 13 home runs in 2013 and 2014, respectively. At the big league level, the young outfielder doesn’t figure to hit for as much power, however, and should be more of a gap hitter.

His immediate big league future is that of a fourth outfielder. The Indians have a bevy of outfield prospects ahead of him in terms of natural ability, but Ramsey is the second-closest outfielder in relation to a big league call-up.

If he’s able to stick in center field and hit somewhere near 10 home runs a season, he could profile well as a starting center fielder and No. 2 hitter on an average team.

Grade: B

Indians Get: Zach Walters, Nationals Get: Asdrubal Cabrera

Realistically, the Indians should have traded Asdrubal Cabrera after his All-Star campaign in 2012. With free agency just two years away, Cabrera staked himself out to a .270/.338/.423 slash line with 16 home runs, 68 RBI, 70 runs scored and a 90/52 K/BB ratio.

Since then, the veteran shortstop has been trending downward, posting a .244/.301/.395 slash line over 978 plate appearances between the 2013 and 2014 seasons.

Cabrera’s abysmal performance in the last two seasons hurt his trade value significantly. The shortstop market ended up being much thinner than once projected, and with players like Alexei Ramirez, Jimmy Rollins and others staying put, he would have commanded a much higher return package.

Instead, from the Nationals, the Indians were able to get shortstop (and sometimes third base) Zach Walters.

Walters ranked as the Nationals’ No. 14 prospect, according to the Baseball America Prospect Handbook. He has great pop, racking up at least 12 home runs in each of the last three minor league seasons. The 24-year-old fails to recognize as much of that power as he should, however, striking out at a 23.5 percent clip over the course of his minor league career.

If he continues to swing so freely at the big league level, Walters will get eaten alive by more advanced pitchers.

Defensively, the University of San Diego product is more of a project and requires some additional work if he’s going to find a permanent home at either shortstop or third base. If he’s able to improve his route-taking and also his first step (unlikely), then he could work as a starting shortstop.

The more likely path for Walters is that of a utility man—think Martin Prado but with less speed and maybe a bit more power.

The move is somewhat puzzling, though, as the Indians already possess a wealth of players with similar career paths. Even so, it cleared a spot for Francisco Lindor to be promoted in the very near future, and that’s never a bad thing. 

Grade: C+

Overall 

It wasn’t a great deadline by any means, but most of that wasn’t the Indians’ fault. They weren’t likely to re-sign both Masterson and Cabrera—especially not Cabrera—so both moves were warranted.

In addition to that, the poor performances put forth by both players hurt their trade value, leaving the Indians with little wiggle room to acquire better prospects in exchange for expiring contracts.

Perhaps the most important result of either trade was the fact that the Indians were able to open up the starting shortstop gig for top prospect Francisco Lindor. The 20-year-old has torn up minor league pitching and ranks as the best defensive shortstop in the minor leagues.

Getting him some experience in a non-pressure situation will be key to his development, so the team should be commended for that.

All in all, it wasn’t a great deadline, but it wasn’t horrible, either.

Overall Grade: B-

*All stats current through play on August 1, 2014, and are courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.

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With the 2014 Major League Baseball trade deadline quickly approaching, the Cleveland Indians find themselves in a curious position. The team is currently three games over .500 and 4.5 games back of the division-leading Detroit Tigers.

The Tribe has just a two-game deficit between them and the final American League wild-card spot, but there are some major flaws to be addressed, most notably in the starting rotation and on the bench.

The rotation has undoubtedly been the Indians’ biggest issue. Indians’ pitchers with at least one start under their belt have combined for some ghastly numbers this year.

Some of the rankings are palatable, however, and it’s important to note that the team is currently working with a starting group that includes exactly one member of the opening-day rotation.

Corey Kluber, the Tribe’s perceived No. 2—or 1A, if you please—for opening day has really cemented himself as a fringe-candidate for “ace” status, but he alone can’t carry the rotation. On opening day, it was assumed that Justin Masterson would work as the team’s No. 1 starter, but as the numbers indicate, he’s been anything but a reliable option, even when fully healthy.

Zach McAllister, who pitched well in 2013 and to start the year in 2014, has struggled mightily, and has even spent time at Triple-A Columbus due to performance-related issues. 

So the need for another starter has arisen.

The club could choose to promote Danny Salazar and utilize him as a starter for the rest of the season, but if his 4.7 BB/9 at Triple-A are any indication, he still hasn’t figured anything out.

At this point, the only way to address the starting-rotation headache is through a trade. A number of starting pitchers figure to be available, including Jake Peavy, Jorge De La Rosa, A.J. Burnett, Bartolo Colon and David Price.

Price is likely out of the Indians’ reach. The Rays would demand a package including Danny Salazar and Francisco Lindor. The Indians may be able to counter with a package built around Salazar and Clint Frazier and another mid-level pitching prospect, but the bargaining would likely end there.

The team would then have to turn to a second-tier options, like Peavy, De La Rosa, Burnett or Colon. Of the group De La Rosa and Colon are the best fits, but Colon offers the team the best of both worlds, those being production and an extra year of club control.

So, we’ve arrived at a target: Bartolo Colon. It’s like the LeBron James homecoming.

Well, not really. But it’s the next best thing, right?

Colon has been unspectacular, but solid at times. His four most recent starts have seen his ERA rise from 3.67 to 4.12. However, leaving New York could be a good move for the 41-year-old righty.

Colon is under contract through the 2015 season at a rate of $10 million per season. The Mets willingness to absorb some of his remaining salary will ultimately determine the return package they receive.

If the Mets are willing to make the acquisition slightly more affordable for the Indians—who are unlikely to take on a player worth $10 million next year or for the remainder of this season—then the Indians could put together a trade package including two mid-level pitching prospects like Adam Plutko and Shawn Morimando.

A more likely scenario involves the Indians making a swap of Asdrubal Cabrera for Bartolo Colon.

The Mets are in need of a shortstop, and while it’s likely they would rather get a younger, more permanent solution, Cabrera is signable from the Mets’ point of view and is still just 28 years old. Even if the team decided to let Cabrera walk at the end of the 2014 season, the Mets would benefit from some salary relief.

Since there is no salary relief on the Indians’ end in this scenario, the Mets would also chip in a pitching prospect to complement Colon.

The best and most realistic option for the Mets is 21-year-old righty Gabriel Ynoa. Ynoa has the opportunity to develop into a back-end rotation option, but his future will be determined by the development of his slider.

His primary offering, a low-90s sinker, is a solidly average offering. His second-best offering is a plus-plus changeup that has outstanding fading action and can work very well at the big league level.

Ynoa‘s breaking ball is less developed. He’s inconsistent with the arm action and release point associated with the pitch, but should it become a more consistent offering, the Dominican Republic native should have no problems slotting into the back of the Indians’ rotation by the 2016 season.

Another important factor in this deal is the spot that would be cleared for Francisco Lindor. The Indians’ top prospect is knocking on the door for a promotion, and has averaged a .281/.352/.389 batting line over 387 at-bats this year. 

In addition to his solid slash line, Lindor boasts 22 extra-base hits, 48 RBI, 51 runs scored and 25 stolen bases. The 20-year-old would also provide the Indians with an enormous defensive upgrade, as he’s one of the best defensive shortstops at any level of professional baseball.

The deal presents the the Indians with a win-win scenario. Colon isn’t the best option on the open market, but he’s easily attainable. In addition to the upgrade the rotation would receive, the team can get value out of Asdrubal Cabrera while clearing room for one of the top prospects in the game to make his mid-season debut.

Final Deal

Indians Get: Bartolo Colon and Gabriel Ynoa

Mets Get: Asdrubal Cabrera

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With the Major League Baseball trade deadline rapidly approaching—July 31, in case you were unaware—it’s become increasingly clear that the Cincinnati Reds need something, anything to get them to the next level in order to compete for a division title and possibly a World Series championship.

The team has concerns surrounding the level of production it’s received from several key areas, including left field, shortstop and the bullpen. Until it addresses at least one of these issues, the Reds are not a championship-caliber team, much less a division winner, or even a wild-card team.

With that, the Reds have a few options. Should they buck their recent trend of twiddling their thumbs at the deadline, then they will likely choose to pursue a reliever and a bench bat while shipping off underperforming prospects—e.g. Daniel Corcino—who still have upside and value if moved to a new team.

But, this article isn’t about what they will do, it’s about what they should do. What the Reds should do is make a trade to address one of the weaknesses mentioned above.

Outlined below are two trades the Reds could feasibly make. Both trades are doable in terms of the salaries the Reds would take on and the perceived availability of the incoming players, as well as the package assembled to acquire them.

Let’s start with an in-division deal involving a familiar trade partner.

Want to make a splash at the deadline? This is the way to do it.

It can be tough to justify acquiring Starlin Castro, a player well known for his lackadaisical work on the field. However, the Reds are in grave need of an offensive upgrade at shortstop, and this is the best way to fill that hole.

Offensively, Castro is a great fit for the Reds. The 24-year-old is slashing .274/.325/.436 through his first 406 plate appearances to go along with 26 doubles, 11 home runs, 52 RBI and 43 runs scored.

Zack Cozart’s offensive contributions pale in comparison to Castro’s. In 90 games as the Reds’ shortstop, Cozart has managed just a .236/.287/.307 slash line with 18 extra-base hits—two home runs—22 RBI and 31 runs scored.

In addition to Castro, the Reds would also do wonders for their bullpen by acquiring left-handed reliever James Russell.

The Reds’ left-handed relief situation has been a mess. With Aroldis Chapman manning the ninth inning, the Reds were left with Manny Parra and Sean Marshall as their two remaining left-handed relievers.

Unfortunately, the club lost Marshall to a season-ending shoulder injury, and Parra has regressed significantly from his outstanding 2013 season—3.96 ERA and 1.40 WHIP, up from 3.33 and 1.20 in 2013.

Russell, on the other hand, has been outstanding. On the season, the 28-year-old has allowed a 2.54 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP with a 7.0 strikeout rate, a 4.1 walk rate, a 1.69 strikeout-to-walk ratio and 5.4 hits per nine innings. Russell’s numbers would make him the third-best reliever on the Reds roster, behind Chapman and Jonathan Broxton.

Giving up Tony Cingrani would be tough, as the 25-year-old has shown some promise since being called up during the 2012 season.

However, for the Chicago Cubs, Cingrani could be a great fit. The Rice University product would be a cheap, controllable option through the 2019 season, and he would provide the Cubs with a high-upside lefty—something their system is lacking.

Jesse Winker would slot in as a surefire top-10 prospect in the Cubs’ system—likely toward the back end of the group—and presents the Cubs with a solid outfield prospect with the ability to post .300/.350/.500 seasons with 20-plus home runs at the big league level.

The third piece of the Reds’ return package, Amir Garrett, provides the Cubs with another high-upside lefty with legitimate mid-rotation potential.

Garrett is still raw, thanks largely in part to his pursuit of a career in professional basketball. However, he has a fresh, live arm, capable of ramping up a mid-90s fastball. His curveball and changeup are, understandably, behind his other two offerings, but they both have the potential to be at least big league average.

Garrett’s curveball has the best potential of his two secondary offerings. He’s inconsistent with the pitch’s release point, but with repetition and the improved ability to stay on top of the pitch, it could be an above-average offering at maturity.

At worst, Garrett can be a late-inning relief option, where his fastball could operate as a plus pitch from the left side. The inefficiencies he experiences with his secondary offerings would also become less of an issue, as he’ll only really need one to develop in order to become an effective option out of the pen.

The package could be tough for a lot of fans to process as it would give up the team’s perceived No. 6 pitcher, along with arguably the best prospect in its system—and a third with some impressive upside.

This trade is much more conservative than the first and, in all likelihood, a move the Reds may actually make.

Ben Zobrist was a near-buy-low candidate earlier in the year, and after missing some time with an injury, he had been struggling at the plate. More recently, however, Zobrist has been on point. Over the month of July, Zobrist has seen his batting line skyrocket up to .267/.356/.410, on the back of a .360/.450/.500 performance through his last 55 plate appearances.

Aside from his current slugging percentage—a mark that would represent the second-lowest full-season figure of his career—Zobrist has rebounded back toward his career averages, and he looks to be a pretty safe bet for the remainder of the 2014 season.

Zobrist is a free agent at the end of this season, so the team would have to look to re-sign the 33-year-old at the end of the year. However, it’s a price worth paying when you consider some of the offensive woes the team has experienced this season.

Zobrist’s versatility would afford the Reds a wealth of opportunities. The veteran super-utility man could lock down second base with relative ease until the return of Brandon Phillips, upon which he would slot quite nicely into left field.

Perhaps more important than the defensive versatility Zobrist offers is his ability to hit second in the Reds lineup.

With Joey Votto out for an undetermined length of time and Phillips dealing with his own injury, two of the more important pieces to the Reds’ offensive attack are on the shelf. The injuries have caused first-year manager Bryan Price to do a lot of lineup shuffling, and the Reds’ most recent game saw Cozart operate from the 2-slot.

Zobrist could remedy some of the lineup concerns, and when Votto and Phillips do return, he’d still be a great option to hit second. Zobrist makes contact at a very high rate, and even with an in-play percentage of 72 percent this season—nine-year MLB average is 69 percent—Zobrist has managed to sneak his on-base percentage up over the .350 mark—something the Reds could desperately use behind Billy Hamilton.

Hit-and-run opportunities would be plentiful for the Reds with Zobrist batting behind Hamilton, and the middle of the order would be presented with numerous chances to hit with both runners on base.

Acquiring Zobrist won’t cost nearly as much as his teammate David Price, but he still won’t be cheap.

Tampa Bay Rays general manager Andrew Friedman isn’t the type of GM to sell low on a player, and he’s content with waiting until he gets exactly what he wants for Zobrist. He’s also likely to be content with keeping Zobrist and trying to sign him to a multiyear deal following the 2014 season.

So, the Reds will have to pay full price for Zobrist. But what exactly is full price?

The Rays’ farm system isn’t quite as deep as it used to be, as Tampa Bay has seen top prospects such as Alex Cobb, Chris Archer, Matt Moore and others graduate to the big league level. With Price likely on his way out—at least next year, if not this one—the Reds could part with a combination of mid-level pitching prospects such as Chad Rogers and Sal Romano.

Romano, a 6’4″, 250-pound right-hander, possesses a solidly average fastball, which possesses above-average potential as he continues to log minor league innings. His breaking ball and changeup figure to be average offerings.

Romano has shown some improvement over his 2013 campaign, logging a 4.01 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP over 19 starts. As he continues to improve his command and control, Romano can be a solid option at the back end of a contending team’s rotation.

Where Romano has shown vast improvement, Rogers has been somewhat disappointing. The 24-year-old is still an attractive piece, though.

While he doesn’t have overpowering stuff—his fastball sits right around 91-92 mph—Rogers works well out of the bullpen, utilizing a three-pitch arsenal that includes a slider and changeup, as well as the aforementioned fastball.

Rogers’ arsenal and velocity suggest that he’ll be a middle-relief option when he reaches the big leagues.

If the Rays balk at Rogers, Jon Moscot—a surefire rotational option—may be enough to make them pull the trigger.

All stats are current through play on July 18, 2014, and are courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted.

Trade suggestions, comments, outraged? Start the debate in the comment box below.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The Cleveland Indians have some work to do at the upcoming July 31 trade deadline. The team currently sits at 45-46, 7.5 games back of the division-leading Detroit Tigers and 3.5 games back of the Seattle Mariners for the second wild-card spot.

The Indians need help in a couple of different areas, including the starting rotation and the bench. Aside from those two areas, the team has a collection of players who are simply underperforming. For a team with limited funds, and limited willingness to give up top prospects, it can be difficult to bring in the pieces necessary to put themselves over the top.

In any event, the team needs to do something, and that’s what I’m here to help sort out. Over the next few slides, I’ll break down the club’s biggest areas of need, their moveable pieces, some possible targets and even propose a few deals the Indians could look at to bolster their roster.

Let’s get started.

All stats are current through play on July 10, 2014 and come courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and Fangraphs.com unless otherwise noted.

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The Cincinnati Reds‘ top 10 prospects received a little bit of a shakeup since my last version of this recurring article. The MLB draft brought along newcomer Alex Blandino, while some other players either worked their way into the top 10 or found new homes on the list.

Much like previous installations, we’ll go through each of the club’s top 10 prospects, analyze their past week of play and issue a stock-up or stock-down grade based on their performance.

As previously mentioned, the top 10 looks a little different than previous versions of this piece. So, if you want to refresh yourself on who the team’s top-10 prospects are, and why they rank where they do, feel free to visit my post-draft top-10 piece published back on Jun. 11.

We’ll kick things off with the only left-handed pitching prospect to crack the top 10, Ismael Guillon.

Begin Slideshow

Lack of Bench Depth

The Indians‘ lack of bench depth is becoming a rather big problem for the club. Though they’re not faced with the same types of pinch-hitting decisions that National League teams face, the level of production the Tribe have received from their bench has been deplorable.

From non-everyday players currently on the active roster, the Indians have received offensive contributions that include a .241/.280/.342 slash line, 11 doubles, seven home runs, 39 RBI and 34 runs scored.

The Indians have very little to turn to when they need a player to work as a spot starter, or in any other capacity, really.

While it may not be something the team chooses to address via trade, the unimpressive performances by Indians’ bench players have been a big problem for Cleveland.

How to Clear Space for Francisco Lindor

This, in essence, is a nice way of saying the Tribe need to trade Asdrubal Cabrera. Although he’s been much more productive this season than he was last season, the 28-year-old still isn’t the same player we thought he could be after making back-to-back All-Star Game appearances between the 2011 and 2012 seasons.

Behind him on the organizational depth chart is one of the top shortstop prospects in all of baseball, Francisco Lindor. The 20-year-old has quickly worked his way through the minor league ranks and is now putting forth an impressive effort at Double-A Akron, where players’ average age is 4.7 years greater than his—per Baseball-Reference.com.

Over a combined 89 games at Double-A—67 games this season and 21 last year—Lindor boasts an impressive stat line, including a .284/.375/.398 slash line, six home runs, five triples, 11 doubles, 47 RBI, 59 runs scored and 24 stolen bases.

Though he’s been solid at the plate, Lindor does his best work in the field.

Lindor has plus instincts in the field and takes clean, aggressive routes to the ball. That and his plus arm make the Florida prep product one of the game’s premier defenders, despite having yet to play a game at the big league level—his 4.33 RF/G at Double-A is evidence of that.

Trading Cabrera is really the only way to get Lindor regular at-bats at the big league level—he’s definitely ready for them. It’s been speculated for the better part of a year-and-a-half now that Cabrera could be traded to a contending team in need of a shortstop—think Oakland or Pittsburgh.

Lack of Production from the Starting Rotation

Not only would trading Cabrera open up a spot for Lindor on the 25-man roster, but it could also help the Indians shore up what has been a rather shaky starting rotation here in 2014.

As a group, the Tribe’s starting rotation has allowed a paltry 4.67 ERA with a 1.42 WHIP and season averages of 8.7 K/9, 3.20 BB/9, 2.71 K/BB and 9.6 H/9. The team has seen would-be aces like Justin Masterson and Danny Salazar—both of whom were expected to assume major roles with the team this season—struggle mightily.

In addition to those two extreme disappointments, Zach McAllister has been a disappointment in his own right, allowing a 5.89 ERA over 10 starts, spanning 47.1 innings pitched. In short, the rotation has been pretty bad outside of Corey Kluber and Josh Tomlin.

So, why not get them some help?

The Indians have a ton of middle-infield depth—something I highlighted in my recent top-15 prospect rankings. They could look to deal from that middle-infield wealth, while a few right-handers—Dace Kime and Corey Anderson—could help sweeten the deal.

The Indians don’t appear to have the depth to bring in someone like David Price or Jeff Samardzija—unless they’re willing to do the unimaginable and deal off Francisco Lindor and Danny Salazar.

The front office will have to get creative if they’re hoping to land a starter at the deadline and may have to settle for a starter like Ian Kennedy or Dillon Gee—both are possible deadline targets according to Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal.

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The Cincinnati Reds‘ farm system is flush with young pitchers right now. A quick look through my most recent prospect rankings and you’ll see that nine of the team’s top 15 prospects are pitchers.

Of those nine prospects, only one is a can’t-miss starter. That young man, Robert Stephenson, headlines the group of starters we’ll analyze in this piece.

The rest of the group—and even Stephenson at times—displays notable strengths and weaknesses, some of which will have a defining impact on their career paths as they trek through the minor leagues. Over the next few slides, we’ll look at the team’s top five pitchers—as determined by my rankings (linked above)—and take a look at their specific strengths and weaknesses as they appear in video study.

We’ll kick things off with a 22-year-old righty who is flat-out dominating older batters in the hitter friendly California league, Ben Lively.

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