Indians sign top two starters for the long haul

Signing young, controllable players to long, cheap, guaranteed deals is what made the Cleveland Indians so good for so long in the 1990’s and they appear to be ready to recreate the magic in 2015. Last year, Michael Brantley, Yan Gomes (pictured above congratulating Carlos Carrasco after his first career complete game shut out) and Jason Kipnis were all brought on through 2018 (including Brantley’s option) and now, Chris Antonetti has inked the Indians number one and two starters for even longer.

The topic of signing Corey Kluber, the 2014 AL Cy Young award winner, to a long term deal has been going on for quite awhile now. I actually wrote on the subject immediately following the 2014 season with the opinion that it would be a mistake to guarantee him money as he would already be controlled through the 2018 season and was already 28 years old. This was also with the assumption that an extension would be twice as much as he actually signed for.

Instead, Kluber signed a very team friendly deal, especially considering the fact that his arbitration years were set to begin in 2016 anyway. With a good 2015, he could have guaranteed himself at least $10M, but instead settled for $38.5M total over the next five seasons. This includes all three arbitration years, one year of free agency with two more seasons for which the club holds options. The final three years, including the options, may vary depending on certain escalators, but if they are accepted, Kluber could ultimately make $77M over the next seven seasons, giving him the largest contract ever signed by a pre-arbitration pitcher. He had initially signed this year for just over $600K, but will make $1M instead for the 2015 season. The full year-by-year breakdown is below.

While Kluber seems a bonafide ace, one who had proven himself in part of 2012 and all of 2013 (11-5, 3.85 ERA, 147.1 IP, 136 K’s), Carlos Carrasco, the Indians number two starter, is much less of a sure thing. He is a year younger than Kluber, but began his Major League career two years earlier and has never shown as much consistency. The remaining piece of the trade that originally sent Cliff Lee to the Phillies, Carrasco has jumped from the Indians rotation, to AAA, to the bullpen to Tommy John and everywhere in between. Joining the miracle worker, Mickey Callaway in 2014, Carrasco had his first solid season ever as he set career bests in ERA (2.55), innings (134), strike outs (140) and FIP (2.44). With little other competition on that level, it was decided very early on in the off-season that Carrasco would be the Indians number two starter.

In his first year of arbitration eligibility, Carrasco agreed to a $2.34M deal to avoid arbitration earlier in the off-season, but more recently, the Indians decided to get a little excited. A day after announcing the Kluber extension, Cleveland has reportedly reached a four year, $22M deal with Carrasco, also including two club options. The exact year by year break down is unavailable at this time for Carrasco’s deal.

While signing a proven Cy Young award winner who doesn’t have many miles on his arm for at most $11M per year for seven years may be a no brainer, the signing of Carrasco is slightly less so. He will make just $5.5M per year during his guaranteed years, but just one year ago at this time, the Indians were considering allowing Carrasco to reach waivers, much as they did with Zach McAllister this season. To most teams, this is a paltry amount of money (about the same for four years as Matt Kemp will make in one year in 2019 when he is 34 years old), but for the Indians, it is a big deal. For comparison, half that per year rate is enough for them to keep Ryan Raburn on the roster, despite his outfield antics.

As Carrasco was one year ahead in his arbitration clock, this deal will also buy out his three years of arbitration (including 2015) and one year of free agency before the options begin. If all goes to plan, both pitchers will remain on the roster through 2020, as will Gomes and Kipnis. Behind them, Carlos Santana, Michael Brantley and Michael Bourn are all guaranteed through 2017 while only six players currently on the 25 man roster will give up team control before then. In fact, at this moment, only two players on the Indians 25 man become free agents after 2015, Mike Aviles and Spring Training invitee, Anthony Swarzak (although the Indians will likely not use the options for Raburn and David Murphy, so they could be gone as well). Either way, the Indians like the club they have now, and they plan on keeping the gang together for quite awhile now.