SPORTSBIZ -- JOEL HAMMOND
As expected, the Indians' payroll is on the rise
Blog entry: January 18, 2012, 12:06 pm | Author: JOEL HAMMOND
The Cleveland Indians reached agreements with five of their arbitration-eligible players — Shin-Soo Choo, Chris Perez, Justin Masterson, Joe Smith and Jack Hannahan — on Tuesday, and reportedly exchanged salary figures with two others, Asdrubal Cabrera and Rafael Perez. (For a refresher on how arbitration works, click here.) And as I've written in this space previously, the Indians are looking at a nearly 50% increase in their payroll. Let's look at the five newly signed and the two still unsigned:
Shin-Soo Choo
2011: $4 million
2012: $4.9 million
Gain: $900,000
Chris Perez
2011: $2.225 million
2012: $4.5 million
Gain: $2.225 million
Justin Masterson
2011: $468,000
2012: $3.85 million
Gain: $3.38 million
Joe Smith
2011: $870,000
2012: $1.75 million
Gain: $880,000
Jack Hannahan (my favorite player)
2011: $500,000
2012: $1.14 million
Gain: $664,000
And the unsigned:
Asdrubal Cabrera
2011: $2.025 million
2012: Asked $5.2 million, offered $3.75 million
Midpoint: $4.4 million
Gain: $2.3 million
Rafael Perez
2011: $1.33 million
2012: Asked $2.4 million, offered $1.6 million
Midpoint: $2 million
Gain: $670,000
Including the $5 million the Indians owe to Derek Lowe and the $4.2 million they picked up for 2012 in the Ubaldo Jimenez deal — and let's call Grady Sizemore a wash, because his $5 million base salary likely will at least meet the $7.5 million he was paid last year, with incentives — the Indians are looking at a minimum of a $20 million bump over last year's Opening Day payroll of $49 million.
(That's not taking into account the assumed $5 million or so they'll end up spending on a solution at first base, if that market ever sorts itself out.)
Will it be enough to contend? Or satisfy fans? That remains to be seen, but if the Tribe's ground-ball-heavy pitchers can succeed — no small feat, given how loaded the American League is — it could be a good summer.
Cool deal for the Indians
I'm a few days late on this, but in case you haven't seen it: The Indians typically play an exhibition game at an affiliate each year; most recently, they've done it at Columbus' new Huntington Park. This year, it'll be in Zebulon, N.C. — great town name; sounds like something out of “The Jetsons” — against the Carolina Mudcats.
The Mudcats announced Wednesday that they will host the Indians on April 3 at Five County Stadium. It will be the Triangle area's introduction to the team that will supply the Zebulon-based franchise with minor-league talent.
"Cleveland wanted to show their appreciation to the Triangle area and they offered to put on an exhibition game," said Mudcats owner Steve Bryant. "I think it's going to be a great way to introduce the era of the Cleveland Indians to Mudcats' fans."
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