The Indians find themselves in a rare situation. They're a competitive team that hopes to make the playoffs next year but at the same time, they might be looking to trade their best player in Francisco Lindor.

In 2019, Lindor slashed .284/.335/.518 with 32 HR, 22 SB and 170 hits while only striking out 98 times. In his career, he has a slash line of .288/.347/.493 with 130 HR, 178 doubles with a total of 835 hits and only 455 strikeouts. He has also stole 93 bases in his career for a success rate of 81.7 percent. So far in his career, Lindor has made four all-star appearances, two Silver Slugger awards and two Gold Glove awards.

Lindor is projected to make $16.7 million in his second year of arbitration which may be a price that's too steep for the low budget Indians to pay for one year. The Indians have been trying to extend Lindor for the past little while but with the Indians operating on a low budget, it will be very hard to do so.

The largest contract the Indians have ever handed out to a player was a three year, $60 million deal which they gave out to Edwin Encarnacion prior to the 2017 season. Lindor would easily be able to command triple the amount of money Encarnacion got which the Indians don't seem willing to pay. It seems like the Indians would rather get something for Lindor than let him walk after the 2021 season so they could very well look to trade him now to maximize the return they would get for him.

Here is who they could get.

Atlanta Braves

Braves get: Lindor and international bonus pool money

Indians get: SS Dansby Swanson, OF Christian Pache or OF Drew Waters and P Thomas Burrows or OF Trey Harris

After winning two consecutive division titles but getting ousted in the NLDS, the Braves need a bit of a change. They could improve their outfield by adding Mookie Betts or they could improve up the middle by adding Francisco Lindor.

Heck they could even add both. To get Lindor, they would trade their current shortstop Dansby Swanson, either their top ranked prospect Christian Pache or second-ranked prospect Drew Waters and one of Thomas Burrows who's ranked 16 or Trey Harris who's ranked 18.

If the Braves were to get Lindor, they would have a dynmaic duo up the middle of Lindor and Albies who are both key contributors offensively and defensively.

If Lindor were to be in a Braves uniform, they would have the heart of the lineup of Lindor, Albies, Acuna and Freeman that can compete with any pitcher in the big leagues. The Braves would also get international bonus pool money that they can use to sign an international free agent.

As the Indians look to remain competitive with or without Lindor in 2020, they would need at least one major league piece back which in this case would be Swanson who also plays shortstop. Swanson posted his best slash line yet of .245/.318/.385 and at the age of 25, he's controlled through the 2022 season. By trading Lindor to the Braves, the Indians would get a top prospect in either Christian Pache who's the eleventh ranked prospect in all of baseball or Drew Waters who's the twenty-third ranked prospect in all of baseball.

While Pache is ranked higher, Waters had the better 2019 season. Cleveland would also be able to net an additional prospect with the option of getting a pitcher in Thomas Burrows or another outfielder in Trey Harris. Burrows is a relief pitcher who could possibly make the opening day roster and Harris would need additional time in the minors as he's only reached Double-A but slashed .323/.389/.498 in Single-A and Double-A combined in 2019.

Los Angeles Angels

Angels get: Lindor

Indians get: SS Andrelton Simmons, OF Brandon Marsh and 2B Jahmai Jones

The Angels are doing what they can to not waste Mike Trout's prime as he's only been to the playoffs once in his career. One thing they can do to help is acquire Francisco Lindor and trading away Andrelton Simmons, second-ranked prospect Brandon Marsh and sixth-ranked prospect Jahmai Jones.

While the Angels are in dire need of pitching, their offense isn't that good either with the exception of Trout. They could find their primary leadoff hitter in Lindor in which they can even bat Lindor and Trout back-to-back. Also when top prospect Jo Adell gets the call, their lineup would be even stronger especially with Lindor in it.

In Simmons, the Indians get an immediate replacement and a defensive upgrade as Simmons is the winner of six Defensive Player of the Year awards which he has won consecutively for the past three years. Simmons is a free agent after next season but the Indians could very well extend him as he would fit their price range. Marsh would help a weak Indians outfield when he gets called up as his career slash line in the minors is .287/.368/.431 with 43 SB.

Regarding Jones, he's a strong defender but needs work offensively which may push his debut back to 2021 but he could become the eventual replacement for Jason Kipnis who the Indians let go of this year.

New York Yankees

Yankees get: Lindor

Indians get: 3B Miguel Andujar, OF Estevan Florial and P Roansy Contreras

The Yankees could potentially become a better team this offseason and that's a scary sight to behold. The Yankees haven't won a World Series since 2009 and GM Brian Cashman is doing what he can to make the team better so the Yankees can get back to the World Series and win ring number 28. He could make the Yankees daunting offense even better by acquiring Lindor in which multiple sources have the Yankees as a potential landing spot for Lindor.

The Yankees would have to give up Miguel Andujar, third-ranked prospect Estevan Florial and twelfth-ranked prospect Roansy Contreras to get Lindor.

With Lindor in pinstripes, the Yankees would have an absolutely stacked infield. Lindor is an upgrade over last year's shortstop Didi Gregorius and would make the Yankees a whole lot better in all aspects of the game. Lindor primarily batted leadoff for the Indians last season but with the multitude of good hitters the Yankees have, he may not find himself batting leadoff but he'll for sure be batting near the top of the order.

The Indians would get an impact bat in Andujar who they can control until the 2023 season. Andujar missed the majority of 2019 with a shoulder injury, but in 2018, he slashed .297/.328/.527 with 27 HR, 90 RBIs and 47 doubles.

Florial, who's ranked 82 in all of baseball regarding prospects has some developing to do but can be a solid major league outfielder for the Indians in the future which the Indians lack. He has a career minor league slash line of .273/.353/.437. In 2019, Contreras posted a 3.33 E.R.A. with an opponent average of .215 which lines up with his minor league career numbers of an E.R.A. of 3.25 and an opponent average of .225. He also doesn't give up many home runs.
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