The Indians Are Not Doing Much to Dispel the Notion the Corey Kluber Trade was a Salary Dump

It wasn’t just a salary dump, right?By “it,” I mean the Cleveland Indians’ trade of starting pitcher Corey Kluber.

It wasn’t just a salary dump, right?

By “it,” I mean the Cleveland Indians’ trade of starting pitcher Corey Kluber.

The returns of said deal weren’t what anyone would call overwhelming. Many fans hung on for over an hour after the trade was made, refreshing Twitter with the hope that something, anything else was included beyond a reliever and another member of the outfield platoon.

Nothing else came, leading many Tribe fans to believe the move was made simply to avoid paying the $17.5 million owed to Kluber.

However, GM Chris Antonetti assured everyone this deal allowed the Indians to make some moves this winter, that the money freed up by moving Kluber provided “more resources to re-invest in our team."

When Cleveland plans on using these resources remains a mystery.

In the days since finding the funds the team apparently needed to become active participants in the offseason, it’s been nothing but crickets. Just a whole lot of silence from a team which just came across some money to spend.

Obviously, there’s still time, and nothing is going to happen overnight. That said, the longer the Indians wait to use money they claimed they’d reinvest, the quicker their image shifts from a team that can’t spend to one that just doesn’t want to.

Again, I’m not here to gripe about the fact Cleveland didn’t just run out and splurge the second it happened upon an extra $17.5 million. Despite the fact there are some notable roster holes in need of being filled, offseason acquisitions don’t occur in the span of minutes.

That said, it’s not that the Tribe hasn’t spent any of the newly achieved funds. It’s that there’s been no indication spending is even on the verge of happening. Finally getting the money they needed to go to work, all we’ve heard from the Indians is their reported interest in second baseman Cesar Hernandez.

Said interest was expressed five days ago.

It forces you to wonder what the Indians are waiting for. Patience in this situation helps nobody. Sitting on their hands just increases the odds of players they have their eyes on getting snatched up, forcing them to fill needs with underwhelming options.

Which brings us back to the original question -- is Cleveland actually planning to spend the money it freed up from the Kluber deal? Are the Indians really going to use these newly found funds to ensure it can compete in the Central while Francisco Lindor is still in town?

Or is $17.5 million just being set aside as money saved?

If so, well, what exactly is the plan here?

The Indians, as currently constructed, aren't much better than the team which fell eight games behind the Minnesota Twins in the division standings last year. It’s tough to believe said situation improves if the front office is only allowed to utilize a small chunk of the Kluber salary this winter.

The optimists out there may think this is no big deal, that the Indians had a quiet offseason last winter, too. Perhaps they’re just once again waiting ‘til the trade deadline to make their big splash.

To that, I’d say a team knowing it's likely losing its superstar shortstop in the near future shouldn’t be thinking about trading top prospects. It’s also worth noting Cleveland has one big trade chip remaining, but I don’t need to tell you that is, now, do I?

So, here we are again, questioning the Tribe's plans.

Speculating about just how much of the $17.5 million the front office is actually allowed to utilize.

Wondering why a team which has seen its season end earlier every year since the 2016 World Series run is potentially dumping salary for the sake of doing so.

Again, there’s still time. A signing of someone like Hernandez could occur any minute now, ending the awkward quiet we’ve been witnessing since Kluber was sent packing.

At the moment, though, said silence is deafening.

The Indians claim to be a team which can win the World Series. They just received some money which allows them to start acting like one.

For now, we're just waiting for them to do so.