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Indians and A's meet in Free Game of the Day
In a meeting of two teams with entirely different agendas, the Cleveland Indians will host the Oakland A’s Saturday night at Progressive Field.
As we know, the AL Central-leading Indians are approaching the trade deadline as buyers looking for the final piece(s) to what they hope will be a championship puzzle. Meanwhile, the struggling A’s would need a miracle run to make up the necessary ground in the AL West and wild-card races, meaning it’s time to sell their valuable assets to restock the ranks.
If you’re curious to see these teams in the current form perhaps one final time, they will be featured in the MLB Free Game of the Day on Yahoo Sports. You can stream the game at Yahoo’s Sports Home, MLB index and video home beginning at 7:10 p.m. ET.
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In the interest of being interesting, we’ll focus on the contending team looking to land an immediate impact player. It will be interesting to see how aggressive Cleveland will be on that front. They’ve been connected to Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy, which could evolve into a package deal including reliever Will Smith. They’ve also reportedly expressed interest in elite Yankees reliever Andrew Miller, though it appears New York will need to be blown away to trade him. If that doesn’t pan out, New York’s Carlos Beltran is another possibility to spice up the offense.
Of course, the big name out there right now is Jay Bruce of the Cincinnati Reds. Trade possibilities surrounding him have gained intensity the last 24 hours, with the Los Angeles Dodgers emerging as an aggressive suitor. We pegged Cleveland as an excellent landing spot for Bruce, because they need a little more power and could use some offensive insurance for Michael Brantley. The Indians star outfielder is still expected to return this season, but it’s tough to say at what capacity with his shoulder still ailing.
Other Indians targets such as Melvin Upton Jr. and Eduardo Nunez have gone elsewhere, so their focus has likely narrowed quickly. Now we wait to see which player they zero in and how willing they are to up the ante.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
