The Indians have exercised Ubaldo Jimenez's option for 2013, the team announced. Cleveland also declined their options for Travis Hafner and Roberto Hernandez.
Jimenez, 28, will earn $5.75MM next season after pitching to a 5.40 ERA in 31 starts and 176 2/3 innings last year. Given his track record and age, it's a worthy gamble. The 35-year-old Hafner hit .228/.346/.438 in 263 plate appearances this year, and will receive a $2.75MM buyout instead of a $13MM salary. Hernandez, 32, allowed 15 runs in 14 1/3 innings across three starts this year. His option was worth $6MM.
It’d be interesting to see Hafner on a low one year deal in Tampa Bay. They have the depth to give him days off and he might be able to rebuild some value there.
Note: the Indians have almost no one signed beyond next year. Looks like a deck cleaning for the next owner if they can only find a buyer.
Getting Hafner out of Cleveland should be a priority. If he cared about the team, it didn’t show to me. Having him in the lineup blocked someone who could have helped.
It’s not like Jimenez is a burdensome contract while Pomeranz and White are dominating out in Colorado. Are they worse off having made the trade? Sure. Is it any worse than paying Victor Martinez a collective $25M for three WAR thus far into his contract though?
Teams make moves that they regret. All things considered, the Ubaldo trade could’ve blown up for Cleveland far worse than it has so far.
3 big differences:
1. Injury is different than lack of performance. Tigers loved his performance in year 1. Year 2 was lost due to injury.
2. Tigers did not give anybody up to get VMART.
3. VMART still has two years of opportunity to provide Tigers with value.
Did you really just compare Martinez to Jimenez? That’s one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen on this site! Even more so if you actually believe it!
smh..Pomeranz and White dominating? Sure thing, every staff needs a PAIR of SP’s that go a combined 4-18 with a 5.22 era, .275 BAA & a 1.59 WHIP..Sign up five of these guys and you can call yourself the Twins.
Tigers gave up a draft pick that may or may not end up doing just as well as what the indians traded away.
The Ubaldo trade could hardly have been worse; he has arguably been the worst starting pitcher in the majors for a year and a half now. Cleveland was forced into picking up an option that will have no payoff, and we traded two top prospects for him. It is irrelevant how those prospects turned out; they were major chips at the time that we turned into NOTHING. It is immaterial how they turned out; it’s what the Tribe turned them into and they got squat. They should have dealt Pomeranz, White (and Gardner) for equally young outfield prospects with similar upside instead of a poor risk-reward guy like Jimenez. If Ubaldo had anything left the Rockies never would have traded him since he was cost-controlled for them for three and a half more years. I’m normally a defender of this ownership group and management but this was an ill-advised, risky, out-of-the box move that only desperate teams make, and it worried me from day one. Unfortunately, we are stuck watching his sorry underachieving attempts at “pitching” for yet another year.
Uh, look at our starting 5
I hate to say it, bu I have a feeling White and Pomeranz would be doing better if they were pitching in Cleveland. Not amazingly better , but still better than they are in Colorado. This was one of the worst moves the Indians have ever made.