CLEVELAND — The Indians are a season-high 12 games over .500. In the past three weeks they have cut the Twins’ 11-game lead in half, the 5 ¹/₂-game deficit the closest Cleveland has been to first place since May 20 and the AL Central’s top two teams face each other for three games to open the second half.

So why might Cleveland still sell? Because not all selling is the same. When it comes to Trevor Bauer, the Indians could try to mimic what the Rays did last July 31 with Chris Archer — trade an established starter for players that not only project to help in the future, but in the present. With Tyler Glasnow and Austin Meadows from Pittsburgh, the Rays went 37-19 after the deadline, tied for the majors’ best record.

“Sometimes you make a trade it looks as if you are selling but you might be getting better,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “They’re [the Rays] winning. Sometimes younger doesn’t mean worse. It is more inexperienced. But you might be setting yourself up not just for the future, but the present.”

The list of teams interested in Bauer was described by one official as “around the block.” The Yankees’ most trusted scouting eyes, vice president of baseball operations Tim Naehring, watched Bauer hold the Reds to one run Sunday (Naehring’s presence was first reported by The Athletic).

Bauer combines attributes the Yankees and many others are pursuing — he is durable (he leads the majors in innings) and his stuff can be overwhelming. He also is not a free agent until after the 2020 season. The Astros, who have Gerrit Cole coming to free agency after losing Charlie Morton and Dallas Keuchel from last year’s team, are said to be among the most interested, in part because of Bauer’s control next season.

Does Clint Frazier (who the Indians took with the fifth-overall pick in 2013) and Domingo German equate to Meadows/Glasnow? Would the Yanks want to give up German, whose peripheral stats in 2019 are quite similar to Bauer’s? Could they do it with the promise of Jonathan Loaisiga? Might they have to find a second young bat elsewhere (Cleveland is said to like Seattle’s Domingo Santana, for example)? Or could they add more ready-now players to Frazier such as Thairo Estrada or see if Cleveland still thinks well of Greg Bird or Jonathan Holder and then mix in well-regarded lower-down pitching prospects.

Again, the Yanks would have plenty of competition here, but the current Yankees and Indians front-office members have done plenty of deals, including significant trade-deadline maneuvers for players such as Andrew Miller and Kerry Wood.

Cleveland would probably be more amenable to moving Bauer if it had good reports on Carlos Carrasco (leukemia) and Corey Kluber (fractured ulna bone) returning in the coming weeks.