CLEVELAND -- The Indians were in this position as recently as seven months ago.

Over the offseason, the Trevor Bauer trade rumors swirled, but the Indians were never offered a return package that would make them bite. Now, they have two days left to determine if they’ll make the same decision.

After Bauer’s outburst on the mound, throwing a ball over the center-field wall from the pitcher’s mound out of frustration during Sunday’s outing, has his trade value decreased? Not necessarily, but it surely is a topic the Tribe’s front office wasn’t expecting to have to discuss in its final 48 hours of phone calls. Does he need to be traded for the Indians to make some additions? Absolutely not.

There are plenty of questions to be answered before the buzzer rings at 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday. Let’s take a look at some of your questions regarding the Deadline:

Priority No. 1: Acquire a solid, preferably right-handed, hitter.

The Indians desperately need some pop in the middle of their batting order, and Domingo Santana of the Mariners may be a good answer. According to MLB Network insider Jon Heyman, the Tribe has at least expressed interest in Seattle’s slugger, who has hit .273 with 20 homers, 66 RBIs and an .817 OPS in 102 games (although he led the Majors in strikeouts with 135 entering play on Monday).

It’s unlikely that the Indians would part ways with their No. 1 prospect, Nolan Jones, or No. 3 prospect, Tyler Freeman, as ranked by MLB Pipeline, but the team has players like outfielder Daniel Johnson or right-hander Carlos Vargas, among others, who could be used to secure a deal.

The Tribe has some flexibility to add a player of any position with its DH spot wide open. Other guys on the market the Indians could check on include Trey Mancini, Nicholas Castellanos, Justin Smoak or Yasiel Puig. Cleveland would also welcome some relief help or any young prospects close to being Major League ready.

So quickly after trades do people want to determine which team “won” the deal. With Christian Arroyo on the 60-day injured list with right forearm tendinitis for likely the remainder of the season, it’ll be tough to determine that any time soon. But if we’re making predictions, the guess is that the Indians will come out victorious.

Arroyo was once on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 Prospects list and the infielder was part of the deal that sent longtime Rays third baseman Evan Longoria to the Giants. Oh, and the Tribe didn’t even have to give up one of its Top 30 Prospects to get him.

If Arroyo can’t make an impact in 2019, the Indians have an open spot in the infield in '20 with second baseman Jason Kipnis now in the final year of his contract. Whether Jose Ramirez moves across the diamond or stays put, Arroyo gives the Tribe some options, having experience at both second and third.

Having that choice fills a hole in the Indians’ system, as the team was forced to turn to Eric Stamets, Brad Miller and Max Moroff when both Kipnis and Francisco Lindor were injured earlier this season. That should answer the question of whether the depth is stronger in the infield or outfield (especially with Daniel Johnson in Triple-A) in the upper levels.

Prior to landing on the injured list, Arroyo hit .314 with nine doubles, one triple, eight homers and 29 RBIs in 33 games for Triple-A Durham. Over his three stints with the big league club, he batted .220 with two doubles, two homers and seven RBIs in 16 contests.

Cleveland also landed reliever Hunter Wood, who has put together a decent season, pitching to a 2.48 ERA over 19 outings that included serving twice as an opener. A combination of the two for just 21-year-old outfielder Ruben Cardenas -- who was still likely three or so years away from being big league ready -- and international slot money seems like an A-plus deal for the Tribe.

The Brad Hand trade rumors have died down since the beginning of July. The Indians don’t have quite the same amount of depth in their relief corps that they do in the starting pitching department. Young hurlers like Zach Plesac and Aaron Civale give the Tribe a little breathing room to at least listen to offers on Bauer. Without that same depth in the bullpen, given that Cleveland is now very much in playoff contention, its All-Star closer will almost certainly stay put.

Early projection (assuming Bauer stays): Carlos Carrasco, Adam Plutko and Danny Salazar are the odd men out.

First of all, Carrasco is out just because it’s not 100 percent that he will be able to get back on the mound this year. He’s hoping to, but mapping out a timetable for someone coming back from leukemia isn’t quite the same as someone who had something like a muscle strain. Carrasco could be back in September, but that can’t be assumed.

It's hard to have high expectations for someone like Salazar, who hasn’t pitched in a Major League game since 2017. He’s been stretched out to about 70 pitches so far, which would hinder him just a tad out of the gate. But that doesn’t mean the Indians won’t at least test Salazar as a starter.

Right-hander Triston McKenzie is still in Arizona, working his way back from an upper back strain that he suffered toward the end of Spring Training. But the 21-year-old, who dropped from the the Indians' No. 1 to No. 2 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, has yet to get back into game action.