Cleveland Indians 2015 Projected Roster And Payroll

Indians Payroll And Roster Coming Into Focus

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Last year the Cleveland Indians failed to sign arbitration eligible players Vinnie Pestano and Josh Tomlin and as a consequence had to go to an arbitration hearing for the first time since being on the winning side of a hearing with infielder Jerry Browne.

Like with Browne in 1991 the Indians won both their cases with Pestano (Link) and Tomlin (Link) in 2014.

Given the teams long standing avoidance to arbitration hearings it makes sense that the Tribe avoided arbitration by signing all six of their eligible players (Carlos Carrasco, Bryan Shaw, Marc Rzepczynski, Bryan Shaw, Josh Tomlin, Lonnie Chisenhall) to one year deals.

The Indians roster from opening day last year has had some turnover as eight players have departed including Justin Masterson, John Axford, Josh Outman, Vinnie Pestano, Blake Wood, Asdrubal Cabrera, Elliot Johnson, and Nyjer Morgan. The Indians 2014 Opening Day Payroll (Cot’s Baseball Contracts) was $85,416,235.

After yesterday’s signings of the teams arbitration eligible players the 2015 projected roster and corresponding payroll is slightly lower at $83,322,001.

The data utilized to construct the table below was obtained at Cot’s Baseball Contracts, arbitration values from MLBTradeRumors Database, and minimum salary of $507,500 as determined in the MLB Collective Bargaining Agreement.

A quick note about the payroll chart. Josh Tomlin is included as one of the relievers to capture his guaranteed $1.5MM salary. His slot on the roster could be filled by C.C. Lee, Austin Adams, or any number of other options.