Kluber unruffled

If only one player can wade through a winter of trade rumors without being affected, that player is the Klubot himself, Indians starting pitcher Corey Kluber.

As soon as the 2018 season ended with the Red Sox beating the Dodgers to win the World Series, rumors Kluber would be traded because the Indians want to cut payroll began to circulate.

Kluber was going to Cincinnati, San Diego, the Yankees, the Dodgers, Milwaukee or Philadelphia in various reports.

It is true the Indians wanted to trim payroll. Kluber is working off a contract he signed in 2015 that calls for a $7 million raise from last season to $17 million this year.

Indians president Chris Antonetti talked to Kluber and told his ace he had to listen to offers if a trade would make the Indians better. But nothing happened, and Kluber is in Goodyear, Ariz., for his ninth spring training with the Indians.

“I totally understand that,” Kluber told reporters in Goodyear. “That’s part of running a baseball team. You have to listen to how other teams value players and that then gives you a value for guys.

“But it’s not like they were actively looking to get rid of me. Once we had that talk, I knew if there was something worthwhile to talk about, someone would let me know about it.”

Kluber is 96-55 over eight seasons with the Indians. He won the Cy Young Award in 2014 and 2017 and was third in the Cy Young voting in 2016 and 2018. He was 20-7 last season and pitched an American-League most 215 innings.

The Indians have one of the best starting rotations in baseball with Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Trevor Bauer, Mike Clevinger and Shane Bieber. Trading a starter is still a possibility, but the Indians are unlikely to make a deal without getting a young outfielder with a big bat under club control for at least three years in return.