AL Cy Young winner Kluber, Indians ‘not close’
Corey Kluber rode an 18-4 record and 2.44 ERA to the 2014 AL Cy Young Award. (Getty Images)
Cy Young-winner Corey Kluber and the Indians were said to be “not close” to finding common ground on a long-term deal when Kluber’s agent and team higher-ups met in Goodyear, Ariz., last week, people familiar with the talks said.
Kluber’s agent, B.B. Abbott, declined comment on the meetings, or the tenor of the talks other than saying, “The lines of communication between myself and the Indians are and will continue to be open.”
Abbott met last week with Indians owner Paul Dolan, team president Mark Shapiro and GM Chris Antonetti, who also declined to comment. Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer first reported the meeting.
The Indians have a history of signing their best controllable players to long-term deals, going back to the John Hart era, and did so with Michael Brantley last winter, agreeing to a four-year, $25 million deal.
Kluber had a spectacular 2014 season, almost out of nowhere, which dramatically raised his value. Yet, in some way he isn’t in a great bargaining position, as a pre-arbitration player with four more years of team control who turns 29 on April 10.
Kluber is thought to be open to a deal, and Abbott has a history of doing big deals before free agency, ans even the occasional one before arbitration, as he did when White Sox star Chris Sale signed a record five-year, $32.5 million deal before he’d hit arbitration.
However, Kluber is in a little bit tougher spot, as he’d be nearing 33 when he hits free agency as things stand, since the Indians have him for four more years. He has made just over $1 million to date in his career and is set to be paid $601,000 in 2015 in his last year before arbitration.
Kluber, who declined a week ago to talk about negotiations, was 18-9 with a 2.44 ERA and 269 strikeouts last season, enough to beat Mariners superstar Felix Hernandez for the Cy Young Award.
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