Indians, Reds talking Trevor Bauer trade that could include top prospect Taylor Trammell

The Trevor Bauer trade rumors aren’t going to stop until the trade deadline passes, it seems. The latest is from Ken Rosenthal, who reports that the Tribe are talking with the Cincinnati Reds for a deal that could involve one of the top prospects, Taylor Trammell.

As Rosenthal notes in his tweet, Trammell has “regressed,” but he has still been an above-average hitter with a 108 wRC+ and his BABIP is lower than it has ever been at .298. He’s also a 21-year-old in Double-A and scouting prospects by their box scores is foolhardy.

Being that is a trade deadline rumor tweet, there is no further context regarding the deal, whether or not more than Trammell is involved, etc. I ran a Bauer-Trammell deal through baseballtradevalues and this nifty tool would suggest that Trammell has way more trade value than Bauer.

It’d still be a hard sell for the Indians to trade away Bauer without getting major-league ready talent, either way. Trammell is a phenomenal prospect (tops for the Reds and No. 32 overall in FanGraphs’ pre-season rankings) who could easily be a keystone in the Indians’ next core. But that doesn’t do anything for them in this year’s pennant race, despite obvious holes in the outfield and at DH. Could the Indians somehow sweeten the pot and get Puig in a deal too? Or maybe they can convince the Reds to just toss him in anyway? Please?