MLB Winter Meetings 2015: Lots of Chatter But No Trades For Indians at Winter Meetings Thus Far

NASHVILLE - The phone of Indians President Chris Antonetti doesn't go very long without buzzing or ringing with a text or call to discuss a potential deal from another team.

"I've gotten three texts," Antonetti said about halfway through talking to the media Tuesday at the 2015 MLB Winter Meetings in Nashville.

The Tribe has been a team high on the list to talk to from other teams, to the point where he's chatted with over half the teams in baseball since arriving Sunday in Tennessee.

"Since we've been here we've talked to 22, 23 teams maybe," Antonetti said. "Not necessarily about starting pitchers but about some type of deal."

Indians starters seem high on the rumor mill list of potential trade chips for the Indians, with two players being discussed more than any - Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar.

Antonetti didn't deny that teams are asking about Indians starters, but said the chats don't just stop there.

"It's not limited to those names, we've talked to 22, 23 teams about maybe 20ish of our players being discussed in earnest, ranging from minor league to major league players," Antonetti said.

"Maybe even more than that, maybe 25 of our players."

The phone of Antonetti starts buzzing early, as he said on the second full day of the Winter Meetings his first dialogue with another team started between 7 and 7:30am.

"Everyday it's literally hundreds of exchanges," Antonetti said. "Whether it's meetings or phone calls or text messages."

While just about everyone in baseball is walking about the massive Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center during the three-day baseball marathon, there could be pressure to try and get something done, something that could lead to a bad deal, and something that teams have to try and avoid.

"We actually joke about that a lot, we try to make sure that we don't alter our decision making process just because we are sitting at a hotel room in Nashville," Antonetti said.

"It's not always easy to do but we remind ourselves to try and maintain that same approach."

The last time the Indians brass were in Nashville at the Winter Meetings, they left empty-handed, only to later on in the winter to make deals to get Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn, two players at the time they felt would be a big part of their future.

Now three years later, the focus is on the Indians pitching staff, and if the team is willing to make a deal to move an arm that could in turn land them an outfielder or key player offensive player on their roster.

"We're not looking to trade any of those guys - at all," Antonetti said of the current starting five. "That's not something we are motivated to do, but again for any player there's a right value to where it would make sense, and our criteria would be does it make us better for 2016 and beyond.

"All of those guys are very meaningful parts of our 2016 team, so any trade would have to meet a pretty high criteria."

For the first time in what seems forever the Indians have depth at the starting pitching spot, and they are going to do what's best for the franchise before they just go and give up someone that is expected to be a big part of the team's future.

"We do feel good about the group of guys we have, not only about the guys returning but about the guys we have at the upper levels of our minor leagues," Antonetti said.