Indians hold cards in contract talks with Kluber
The Indians have the negotiating edge on Cy Young winner Corey Kluber. (Getty)
GOODYEAR, Ariz. — B.B. Abbott, the agent for Indians Cy Young winner Corey Kluber, just got to town the other day and plans to leave Thursday. That’s a short window for Cleveland’s sudden star to talk about a possible long-term deal with the team. But the Indians will surely make the time.
Unlike with few major stars before him, the Indians are in an unususally commanding position to do a long and team-friendly deal, and they know it. There is no way they can let this opportunity pass.
The Indians may even be able to do a lifetime deal with Kluber, a terrific pitcher whose bargaining position is badly hurt for four very compelling reasons: 1) he is still “pre-arb,” (He’s tied to the Indians four more years and and doesn’t start making arbitration, seven-figure yearly money until next season); 2) He’s barely made $1 million in his career to date; 3) He is a late bloomer, who turns 29 the second week of the season; and 4) He’s a pitcher, which means, while he is in the peak of health, you never know.
Abbott declined comment on the negotiations, as did Indians general manager Chris Antonetti, as is team policy. Abbott did suggest they’d prefer to do something in spring, if at all, but has no set rule against in-season talks and trusts the Indians not to leak anything or let it become a distraction (knowing them, that’s a fairly safe bet).
Both sides are said to love each other, not a surprise since Kluber is a serious, quiet fellow, just the kind preferred by teams.
“He’s the consummate professional,” Abbott said. “He’s the perfect teammate. He takes the ball every fifth day and doesn’t complain.”
Antonetti also had no qualms providing an honest, very flattering appraisal of Kluber, who is in a tough negotiating spot, no matter how many bouquets are thrown his way.
“He represents al the things you look for in a player, a person, a teammate and a leader,” Antonetti said. “The good thing is, we have (Kluber) for at least four years. We have a great pitcher who we all have a great deal of respect for, and he’s going to be a big part of the team for the foreseeable future.”
Kluber declined comment on negotiations altogether, following an interview in which he revealed little about how he amazingly transformed from what had all the makings of a potential journeyman career into the best pitcher in the American League in 2014 (he won the Cy Young over Felix Hernandez, thanks partly to the support of the stat crowd, who favored his league-leading 2.35 FIP to go with his 18-9 record and 2.44 ERA, plus his 269 strikeouts). Kluber’s dominating finish with the season on the line didn’t hurt, either. In September, Kluber was 5-1 with a 2.09 ERA.
Kluber, who came in one of many fortuitous trades pulled off by the Indians — he was acquired in a three-team deal on the July 31 trade deadline in 2010 between the Indians and Cardinals, with the other teams acquiring veteran starter Jake Westbrook and outfielder Ryan Ludwick — has only good feelings about Cleveland.
“He and (his wife, Amanda) love it in Cleveland,” Abbott said. “That organization is very good, from the field staff to the front office.”
The organization is also in very good position, no matter what he decides. And that’s the key to the negotiations — whether they reach a deal or not, he can’t leave until 2019, when Kluber will be well into his 30s.
Another key is that the Indians are currently contracted to pay Kluber only $601,000 for the 2015 season, as first reported by the Cleveland Plain Dealer, in his final non-arbitration year when teams pay what they wish. Long-term, pre-arb deals for star pitchers as this one would be are almost invariably good deals for the team. Giants World Series star Madison Bumgarner, White Sox ace Chris Sale and Braves frontline starter Julio Teheran all showed star potential early in their careers and signed pre-arb deals. They all gained security with their big contracts, but all those deals could save the team well into the eight figures.
Whenever a player signs a long-term deal, he doesn’t have much leverage unless he was a bonus baby as an amateur like Stephen Strasburg or Jeff Samardzija, who received eight-figure bonuses to sign their first pro contract. The only leverage Kluber has is the ability to choose not to sign the deal. Which would put a fair amount of pressure on him for 2015.
It’s hard to read Kluber, who gives Joe Friday answers to questions about his remarkable ascension (he did show signs of something in 2013, going 11-5 with a 3.86 ERA). He isn’t about to over-analyze his rise. He does seem determined, decicated and confident, probably more so after his rise.
“I don’t worry about what career path people predicted for me. It’s kind of a waste,” Kluber said after throwing a simulated game the other day rather than facing the intradivision rival Royals again. “Looking back at it makes no sense.”
Abbott isn’t one who nudges players into free agency. He’s willing to do long deals early, as he did with Sale, who signed a $32.5-million, five-year White Sox deal that was a record for pre-arb deals, and also Kyle Seager, who signed a $100-million, seven-year deal with the Mariners a couple years before free agency. (Seager was already in arbitration at the time he signed, so you can see the difference there.)
Most pitchers who can establish their credentials early in their career have a hard time turning down a reasonable deal, as it represents their first fortune. It’s hard for pitchers to turn down the chance at lifetime security knowing he may be one pitch away from an arm injury that could drastically change the equation. Kluber, considering his career path and age, may be even more apt to do a long deal now.
In all those other cases, talented pitchers were signing up for their first fortune, with the second one due at around they turn 30. Since Kluber will turn 30 in the second week of his first arbitration season (2016), he will very likely only get one big chance. And this is it.
These deals often include several team options that can extend them past five and six years, meaning Kluber could easily be 35, or more, by the time a deal is done. That is why his deal could be considered a career deal.
His other option would be to take the risk, and go year-to-year, which might enable him to earn a few million dollars more. However even in this scenario, by the time he becomes a free agent, he’d be entering his age-33 season. That’s awfully late to be a free agent for the first time, and even if he’s still as healthy and pitching well, he might only get a three- or four-year deal. He certainly wouldn’t be in the position Max Scherzer and Jon Lester were this past offseason, or the position Bumgarner, Sale and Teheran will be when their pre-arb deals run out.
It would take quite the gambling man to go year-to-year when you’ve guaranteed only about $1.6 million in your career to date (counting this season). Maybe Kluber is that man. But realistically, only a few risk-averse souls might take that chance and go year to year.
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