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The 2013 Cleveland Indians

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Stark said:
Well going into next season, there is definitely a chance that Ubaldo and/or Kazmir won't be here. No harm in letting him fight for a job out of ST.
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Salazar should definitely be taking one of those spots if healthy next season, and you have to figure Bauer in there too, even with the current command issues.
 
elcheato said:
Salazar should definitely be taking one of those spots if healthy next season, and you have to figure Bauer in there too, even with the current command issues.
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That's true as well.

Masterson
McAllister
Kluber
Bauer
Salazar

If everyone plays to expectations, that's a damn good starting five.
 
Here is what Tony Lastoria had to say about Kazmir for next year:

Extending Kazmir

One of the best signings of the year in all of baseball might be the Indians free agent pickup of lefty Scott Kazmir in the offseason. The Indians bought a lottery ticket with him as they signed him to a minor league deal after he pitched last season in independent ball but impressed in winter ball action, and to date they have cashed in big time with that lottery ticket.

Kazmir, 29, is 6-4 with a 3.96 ERA in 18 starts, and has given the Indians far more than anyone thought he would with 100.0 innings, .239 batting average against, 8.1 K/9, and has allowed two earned runs or less in 11 of his 18 starts. He opened a lot of eyes in the spring and looked great, but was sidelined at the start of the season with a strained rib cage muscle and it took him some time to get things back in order, but he has since taken off since the middle of June going 3-0 with a 1.60 ERA in seven starts (45.0 IP, 23 H, 12 BB, 35 K).

Over the past month-plus Kazmir has looked as good as he ever has in his career, if not better, and could be on his way to winning the AL Comeback Player of the Year award. Earlier in his career he relied on stuff and velocity, and while it appears the velocity and stuff is close to what it once was the difference now is he knows how to pitch. No longer is he just a thrower, he actually knows how to use his stuff, change the eye level of hitters, read swings, and just keep more composed on the mound when he gets into trouble or the inning speeds up on him.

While it is not a big talking point right now because the Indians are focused on making the playoffs this season, a big thing on the Indians to-do list and a brewing offseason question is whether they resign Kazmir. He still has about 11 or 12 more starts to go this season, so anything can happen from a health and performance standpoint, but if he continues to pitch like he has this season he is putting himself in line for a good pay day in the offseason. What exactly that payday ends up being or what kind of market he has remains to be seen, but he’s probably pitching himself to a two or three year deal for about $7-11 million per season.

Teams are very intrigued by his showing this season, but I believe there will be some caution given his limited sample size with just one good season after three or four poor or non-existent seasons prior. But he should at least get a lower end multi-year deal of what I guess to be two or three years. Bottom line, to keep Kazmir in the fold the Indians will probably need to commit about $20-30 million to him over two to three years (any combination of money for two or three years in that range).

Kazmir will surely play the market because he has earned that right and is in his prime at 29 years of age, so another contract opportunity like this may not come around for some time. But the key in all of this may be that the Indians can simply extend him a qualifying offer which would put a compensation tag on him where a team has to forfeit a first round pick to sign him and the Indians would receive a first round supplemental pick for losing him.

Last offseason teams had to extend one year qualifying offers for $13.3 million to their free agents to receive compensation. That number is expected to increase each year though I have not seen what it may increase to this offseason, but let’s assume it is somewhere between $13.5-$14.0 million. It might be an overpay and a risk for one season, but if Kazmir is pitching like he is the rest of the year the Indians very well could extend him that qualifying offer as he would be worth every penny of that $13-14 million on a one year deal if he accepts it.

The key, though, is that offering the qualifying offer becomes sort of a poison pill where it scares other teams off since they would lose a valuable first round pick – something teams showed last offseason they value very much. If this happens, then it could help push Kazmir into a multi-year deal with the Indians close to the terms outlined above.

In a nutshell, the Indians nailed the Kazmir signing and even though he is a free agent this offseason they have a pretty good shot to retain him. What a shot in the arm it would be for the rotation for the next few years if he does stay long term, remains healthy, and is all the way back as a pitcher.
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http://www.indiansbaseballinsider.com/blog/tribe-happenings-the-countdown-to-lindor-is-on-51807
 
MoFlo said:
I'm hoping Kazmir has a feeling of gratitude for the Indians taking a shot on him in a low point in his career & gives them first priority into re-signing him.
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I hope so too, but you also have to factor in that this is his last chance at making some real money...he will go for it. I'd love to have him back for 2 years at 10 mil per (assuming he finishes the season out strong). That's 3 mil less than Myers and Reynolds are being paid this year, so it can be done and fit in the budget.
 
You saw how quickly his career fell apart before. He's going to be looking for the biggest payday, and that's fine. He's done more than anyone expected for the Indians.
 
Besides, I'm of the opinion that Kluber, Masterson, and McAllister are better than Kazmir and Ubaldo - and we've got Salazar and Bauer waiting in the shadows.

Definitely offer him a deal because it's always nice having a solid lefty starter, but don't be too heartbroken if he's not on the team next year.
 
Oh, I totally get that he'd be looking for a big payday, and rightfully so, he deserves it. Just a bit of wishful thinking on my end.

Stark said:
Besides, I'm of the opinion that Kluber, Masterson, and McAllister are better than Kazmir and Ubaldo - and we've got Salazar and Bauer waiting in the shadows.

Definitely offer him a deal because it's always nice having a solid lefty starter, but don't be too heartbroken if he's not on the team next year.
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You keep saying different variations of this, but why are we only allowed to keep 3 starters from this year's club?

I understand if you don't think we'd be able to keep Kaz, but you seem to be wanting to get rid of him for really no reason. With Bauer's command issues, he's certainly no lock to be in the rotation.

Unlike Kluber and McAllister, he's proven he can be successful in this league over a significant amount of time.

Don't get me wrong, I love what McAllister & especially Kluber have done for this team, I'm just sayin'.

Kaz has 1 less quality start than Kluber and has 11 starts of allowing less than 3 ER to Kluber's 8.

I'm not taking anything away from Kluber or McAllister, I'm just saying Kaz has been just as good as both of them have been.

Make no mistake, if Kazmir can even come close to (which he's already doing) & sustain the type of success he had earlier in his career, he's the 2nd best starter on this staff.
 
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MoFlo said:
You keep saying different variations of this, but why are we only allowed to keep 3 starters from this year's club?

I understand if you don't think we'd be able to keep Kaz, but you seem to be wanting to get rid of him for really no reason. With Bauer's command issues, he's certainly no lock to be in the rotation.

Unlike Kluber and McAllister, he's proven he can be successful in this league over a significant amount of time.

Don't get me wrong, I love what McAllister & especially Kluber have done for this team, I'm just sayin'.

Kaz has 1 less quality start than Kluber and has 11 starts of allowing less than 3 ER to Kluber's 8.

I'm not taking anything away from Kluber or McAllister, I'm just saying Kaz has been just as good as both of them have been.

Make no mistake, if Kazmir can even come close to (which he's already doing) & sustain the type of success he had earlier in his career, he's the 2nd best starter on this staff.
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I don't want to get rid of him, I just don't think he'll be on the team next season. Guess that came out weird on my end.

If we do lose Kazmir though, it's not like we're screwed because we have guys like Salazar and Bauer that should be ready to take the next step next season.
 
Nick Camino ‏@CaminoTribe 4m
Josh Tomlin here in town with the #Indians. He will pitch one inning at Single-A Lake County tomorrow. Excited he may join club this year.
 
If you put Machado or Davis on this team we'd be the best team in the league. How are we 10 games over .500? Still can't believe it.

Baltimore has both and are .5 up.
 
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