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Indians Avoid Arbitration With Justin Masterson

By Steve Adams | February 18, 2014 at 1:32pm CDT

1:32pm: Masterson receives a $9.7625MM salary, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, placing him slightly below the midpoint between his figure and the club's figure.

1:25pm: The Indians and Justin Masterson have reached an agreement on a one-year deal to avoid an arbitration hearing, according to MLB.com's Jordan Bastian (on Twitter).

Masterson, who turns 29 in a month, is the last of the Indians' arbitration eligible players to resolve his case. The team went to hearings with right-handers Vinnie Pestano and Josh Tomlin (their first hearings since 1991), with Cleveland winning both cases.

Masterson told Bastian within the past hour that he and the Indians were "really close" on a one-year deal to avoid arbitration. The right-hander posted a 3.45 ERA in 193 innings with 9.1 K/9, 3.5 BB/9 and a 58 percent ground-ball rate that led all qualified big league starters. He filed for an $11.8MM salary while the Indians filed at $8.05MM, as can be seen in MLBTR's Arbitration Tracker. This will be his final year of team control before he is eligible for free agency.

With Masterson's case now resolved, the only two unresolved players in baseball are Homer Bailey and Brandon Belt, though Bailey is said to be "on the one-yard line" in extension talks with the Reds.

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Cleveland Guardians Transactions Justin Masterson

Indians, Masterson Closing In On One-Year Deal To Avoid Arbitration
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View Comments (40)

Comments

  1. TheWegert

    9 years ago

    I say the tribe wins this round but masty is probably now gone after the season.

    Reply
    • Cannon Fodder

      9 years ago

      Yeah, no kidding. Cleveland may have penny-pinched themselves out of another decent starter.

      Reply
    • Greg David

      9 years ago

      He was already gone after this season, with the contract Ubaldo just got and Bailey’s reported deal Masterson just left the Indians prince range

      Reply
    • Ryan McCullough

      9 years ago

      If Masterson requires a 6 year 100 million dollar commitment like Homer Bailey he could be gone, I’d rather them use that kind of money to extend Jason Kipnis and maybe Francisco Lindor.

      Reply
    • Ryan McCullough

      9 years ago

      If Masterson requires a 6 year 100 million dollar commitment like Homer Bailey he could be gone, I’d rather them use that kind of money to extend Jason Kipnis and maybe Francisco Lindor.

      Reply
      • Shin_Soo_Choo

        9 years ago

        Kipnis is going to price himself far outside the Indians’ realm once he hits the market.

        Reply
      • Jake13

        9 years ago

        Lindor won’t be a free agent for 6-7 seasons, why would you be saving money for him? Give Masterson a big 5/95 and he expires before Lindor hit’s FA, that is assuming that Lindor will even be good. Masterson is a top 30-40 SP, and by far the best on the Indians have, they need him to anchor their already average staff.

        Reply
        • NorCalTribeFan

          9 years ago

          Masterson IS a top 30 – 40 pitcher, but can you say for sure that he will be at the end of a five year deal? What happens if he needs Tommy John surgery? If we signed him to a 5/95 and he gets hurt then just shy of ONE QUARTER of our total player salaries would become dead. Small market teams like the Indians simply cannot risk that. We will simply have to trust/hope that the front office can win with young players/reclamation projects every year….an uncomfortable position for Indians fans.

        • Ryan McCullough

          9 years ago

          Have you seen the kind of money being thrown around to extend guys who are just arb eligible?

  2. Chad Woelk

    9 years ago

    Its a shame he prob won’t be with the Indians after this year. Sure wish owners of small to mid market teams were willing to spend more money. Hard to compete financially with the large market teams.

    Reply
    • Ryan McCullough

      9 years ago

      Have you seen how pathetic the fans in Cleveland were in 2013? They didn’t show up down the stretch for a team in contention. I love the Indians, but I don’t blame the ownership for being frugal considering fans don’t show up.

      Reply
      • Jake13

        9 years ago

        When ownership ships out players like Sabathia, Lee, V-Mart why would the fans feel obligated to come to the games?

        Reply
        • NorCalTribeFan

          9 years ago

          …even when they win? Are you saying that winning isn’t enough?

        • Ryan McCullough

          9 years ago

          That was 5 seasons ago, GET OVER IT. There are some good young players wearing Cleveland Indians uniforms, go see them play instead of complaining about trades that were made a half decade ago.

      • Jake13

        9 years ago

        When ownership ships out players like Sabathia, Lee, V-Mart why would the fans feel obligated to come to the games?

        Reply
      • Jake13

        9 years ago

        When ownership ships out players like Sabathia, Lee, V-Mart why would the fans feel obligated to come to the games?

        Reply
    • Ryan McCullough

      9 years ago

      Have you seen how pathetic the fans in Cleveland were in 2013? They didn’t show up down the stretch for a team in contention. I love the Indians, but I don’t blame the ownership for being frugal considering fans don’t show up.

      Reply
  3. jaysfan4life

    9 years ago

    I think that extra $500 is what got it done.

    Reply
  4. Indians223

    9 years ago

    I think since the Indians didn’t use money to go get Ubaldo and probably won’t for Santana they should go ahead and give Masterson his extension. I can see a rotation of 3/5 being Salazar, Kluber, and Mcallister in 2015 but all those young guys can’t get it done by themselves. They need to keep a veteran and Masterson is that guy.

    Reply
    • DarthMurph

      9 years ago

      Depends on what he wants. Masterson needs to put together back to back great years before he deserves an 80+ extension.

      Reply
    • Jake13

      9 years ago

      The smart thing would have been to extend Ubaldo for about $50 million and make a run this year, then let Masterson walk next year, still get your first round compensation, save a lot of money, and only a slight downgrade in talent.

      Reply
      • NorCalTribeFan

        9 years ago

        You are assuming the new, improved Ubaldo won’t revert to the old Ubaldo in 2014.

        Reply
    • Jake13

      9 years ago

      The smart thing would have been to extend Ubaldo for about $50 million and make a run this year, then let Masterson walk next year, still get your first round compensation, save a lot of money, and only a slight downgrade in talent.

      Reply
  5. Jim Blevins

    9 years ago

    Why are we talking about extending lindor and he hasn’t had a single major league at bat………..

    Reply
    • Shin_Soo_Choo

      9 years ago

      Because in the world of Cleveland sports the present is already long lost so we must find promise in the future or forfeit all hopefulness.

      Reply
  6. TheNextEpstein

    9 years ago

    If the Indians can keep Masterson beyond 2014 and also extend Kipnis, on top of the Brantley, Swisher, and Bourn deals, they should have a competitive team the next few years. If they let Masterson walk they will be crushing their rotation with the losses of Kazmir, Ubaldo, and Masterson off a team that needed to win almost 20 straight just to get into the wildcard spot. Salazar is going to be a nice piece to replace Ubaldo and Bauer may replace Kazmir, but who is going to pick up the slack if Masterson walks?

    Reply
    • Michael Chaney

      9 years ago

      They won 10 straight to earn the first Wild Card spot. How is that “almost 20?”

      Reply
      • TheNextEpstein

        9 years ago

        The Indians won 16 of 20 to get into the post season in 2013. I think that qualifies as “almost 20” straight.

        Reply
        • Michael Chaney

          9 years ago

          I understand what you’re saying, but it would make more sense to have just said that in the first place. Winning 20 straight games is a lot different than going 16-4.

        • TheNextEpstein

          9 years ago

          I guess, but I think you are missing the point of the post. going 16-4 is pretty hard to do no matter what time of year. So with that finish they still barely squeaked into the playoffs and they have lost 2 starting pitchers off of that team and replaced them with younger players. If they lose Masterson as well I find it hard that they would make it to the postseason again if they dont find good replacements.

        • Shin_Soo_Choo

          9 years ago

          You could also see the fact that they won “almost 20 straight” as a sign that they’re a good team, not just because they had to to get into the postseason.

        • TheNextEpstein

          9 years ago

          I guess, but I think you are missing the point of the post. going 16-4 is pretty hard to do no matter what time of year. So with that finish they still barely squeaked into the playoffs and they have lost 2 starting pitchers off of that team and replaced them with younger players. If they lose Masterson as well I find it hard that they would make it to the postseason again if they dont find good replacements.

  7. DarthMurph

    9 years ago

    Masterson has been replacement level every other year since he became a full time starter. The Indians should extend him only if he takes a discount. He’s not an 100 million dollar pitcher yet. Jimenez was a real wrench in their teams success when he was horrendous.

    Reply
    • Shin_Soo_Choo

      9 years ago

      Replacement level? He was an Allstar last year.

      Reply
      • DarthMurph

        9 years ago

        I said every other. He wasn’t that great in 2012.

        Reply
    • Michael Chaney

      9 years ago

      Masterson’s fWAR by season since 2010 (his first full season as a starter):

      2010: 2.1
      2011: 4.3
      2012: 1.9
      2013: 3.4

      If that’s “replacement level,” then I’m missing something.

      Reply
      • DarthMurph

        9 years ago

        I was using baseball reference’s WAR.

        Reply
    • Tribe82

      9 years ago

      Really, if you look at Ubaldo’s career in Cleveland he was only “good” for 1/5 of the time he was here, and that was the second half of last season. If a guy like that can sign a 4 year, $48MM deal, then I shudder to think how the FA pitching market is going to look like next year for small market teams like Cleveland.

      Reply
      • DarthMurph

        9 years ago

        It’s shaping up to be rough for every team with all these extensions being signed. It’s not a very long list to begin with.

        Reply
  8. DarthMurph

    9 years ago

    Masterson has been replacement level every other year since he became a full time starter. The Indians should extend him only if he takes a discount. He’s not an 100 million dollar pitcher yet. Jimenez was a real wrench in their teams success when he was horrendous.

    Reply

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