Carrasco' deal is rumored to be around 30 mill guaranteed.

@MLBastian: ~$38M might sound low for Kluber, but remember, includes 1 pre-arb year, 3 arb years, 1 FA year. Bumgarner got $35M in similar deal in '12.

And....there's more to it:



Indians signed RHP Corey Kluber to a five-year, $38.5 million contract extension.

While the extension is technically five years, it includes the 2015 season. The Indians also have club options on the deal for 2020 and 2021, and the contract can max out at $77 million if all of the escalators are hit and options are picked up. It's a deal that will work out great for the Indians if Kluber stays healthy but also gives the righty financial stability for life.

Yeah, those cheap Dolans.

Bumgarner was given 35 mill in a similar deal. So Kluber's was 3 mill more.

Inflation.

indians continue to be a very well run franchise. We now have a nice core group of players locked up and the salaries of Bourne and Swisher coming off the books as these new contract escalate. I would not be at all surprised to see Bourne traded if he gets off to a good start with Brantley moving to CF and Kipness will eventually end up in LF as Rameriez slides over to 2B to make room for Lindor. Now all we need is a 3B....

Pitching looks great short and long term!!!!

Carrasco is the last man standing from the much-criticized Cliff Lee deal in 2009.

Remember all the bashers of that deal? Hey, don't get me wrong, there was plenty of reason to be a hater early on.

But look now. Cliff Lee is an old, beat up, hugely paid starting pitcher who is likely done. Meanwhile Carrasco has a promising future ahead of him.

Just goes to show that evaluating trades is an absurdly difficult thing to do until looking back, sometimes years later. We live in a "jump the gun" world.

The key to those deals, as far as I can tell, is the two team-option years, way off in the future. Not nearly as much total $ at risk as in the fabulous deals to Scherzer and the like. And the other key is the message to fans and players that the Indians seriously mean to compete. Everyone besides kenm should be pleased.

TFIR wrote:

Carrasco is the last man standing from the much-criticized Cliff Lee deal in 2009.

Remember all the bashers of that deal? Hey, don't get me wrong, there was plenty of reason to be a hater early on.

But look now. Cliff Lee is an old, beat up, hugely paid starting pitcher who is likely done. Meanwhile Carrasco has a promising future ahead of him.

Just goes to show that evaluating trades is an absurdly difficult thing to do until looking back, sometimes years later. We live in a "jump the gun" world.

Maybe I forgot but wasnt the immortal Jason Knapp supposed to be the key to the big deal?

Anyway I just reviewed the Chris Chambliss deal. Now that was a deal. I think we got Fritz Peterson in that one.

The Dennis Eckersley deal was also a great one. I wonder how Mike Paxson or Rick Wise are doing now.

Personally most disliked trade was Vic Davalillo for Jimmy Hall.

But we can find lots of good deals, lots of bad deals. Somebody Washington, a Class A OF, for Jose Mesa was pretty nice.
Not too unhappy with Joe Carter for Sandy Alomar, Carlos Baerga and Chris James.

TFIR:

How about that Brantley kid we got in the Sabathia deal? C.C. looks to be about done, and Brantley is just entering his prime.

I don't get enough credit for wanting Brantley in the rumored Sabathia dealings.

LOL

What ever happened to that hitter that people wanted instead of LaPorta. Taylor Green. ...

(He's had two major league at bats...)

Too bad we couldn't have got Lucroy instead of LaPorta....

You and the Tribe knew what you were doing when you went after Brantley. He's gone way beyond his projected ceiling: a poor OF who could probably only fit in at 1st base, but with little power so who'd want a future Casey Kotchum if we were lucky.

That map shows just what a "Small Market" team the Indians are. And always will be.

If I read that map correctly, the A's don't have any market, unless Alameda County is marked and I didn't catch it.

And the Mets are no better than runners up anywhere, while the Yankees still have swathes all over the country. But that doesn't make them a decent team anymore