The Indians negotiated deals with five players today, meaning that there are just two players remaining that they need to negotiate with for the 2012 season.
Joe Smith, Jack Hannahan, Justin Masterson, Chris Perez and Shin-Soo Choo all inked deals today, meaning that they avoid going to arbitration. (The two remaining players are Asdrubal Cabrera and Rafael Perez). The Indians have not gone to arbitration with a player since 1991; they hope to keep their streak alive by settling with Cabrera and Perez before their cases go to arbitration.
All 5 of the players that signed negotiated one-year deals; here are the dollar totals:
Joe Smith – $1.75 million (2011 salary: $870,000) Raise of $880,000
Jack Hannahan – $1.135 million (2011 salary: $500,000) Raise of $635,000
Justin Masterson – $3.825 million (2011 salary: $468,400 ) Raise of $3.3566 million
Chris Perez – $4.5 million (2011 salary: $2.225 million) Raise of $2.275 million
Shin-Soo Choo – $4.9 million (2011 salary: $3.975 million) Raise of $925,000
With the two unsigned players:
Asdrubal Cabrera requested $5.2 million and the Indians offered $3.75 million. (2011 salary: $2.025 million)
Rafael Perez requested $2.4 million and the Indians offered $1.6 million. (2011 salary: $1.330 million)
The Indians are supposedly still considering a multi-year deal with Asdrubal Cabrera. Remember – nobody on the Indians is signed beyond 2012 (while several players do hold options beyond 2012).
Of the deals negotiated today, Justin Masterson saw the largest raise over his 2011 salary. This was obviously well deserved due to his great season last year; he had the highest WAR of any Indian at 4.1. Cabrera also deserves a significant raise over his 2011 salary.
With the higher salaries from Smith, Hannahan, Chris Perez, Choo, and Masterson, the Indians will see payroll increase by just over $8 million.
Do we have the requested numbers for the guys who did sign?
That is a very good question…I’m not entirely certain it was made public, but I’ll keep an eye out for it. MLB Trade Rumors has an arbitration tracker – http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/arbtracker2012 and none of those players that settled have an amount listed.
Would have like them to just let Hannahan walk and give his money to Cabrera. It is crazy to haggle over 1.5 million to Cabrera who is your best player, are they trying to make him leave?
Maybe we can spend the money we will save voiding the contract with NOTFausto to get a better offer for ACab & rafael perez.