Cleveland Indians: Decisions to be made on arbitration-eligible players

The Cleveland Indians have several decisions to make today when it comes to players eligible for deals through arbitration in 2018.

December is finally here and with the new month comes some roster decisions right away.

The Indians have until 8 p.m. tonight to tender contracts to seven players who are eligible for arbitration in 2018.

Those players are:

• Cody Allen
• Abraham Almonte
• Trevor Bauer
• Danny Salazar
• Zach McAllister
• Dan Otero
• Lonnie Chisenhall

Allen, Chisenhall, and McAllister are all in their third year of arbitration, while Bauer, Salazar, and Otero are in their second year, and Almonte is in his first.

It is easy to see the Indians tendering deals to all seven players, with maybe Almonte being the only exception because of the depth in the outfield. That is especially true if the Indians have plans to pursue some other free agents.

But that will be difficult considering Allen and Chisenhall should bring in some serious money, as Allen earned $7.35 million in 2017, while Chisenhall earned $4.3 million. Allen can certainly expect a raise, with the same being true for Trevor Bauer as well.

This is a lot of money to shell out before retaining Carlos Santana, Austin Jackson, or even Jay Bruce, but it is part of the process when developing so much homegrown talent. Eventually they either must be extended or the price will continue to rise with each year of arbitration.

It is not always easy to get team-friendly deals such as the ones for Jose Ramirez and Corey Kluber, and this organization may reach a point when cuts must be made. Then there is the discussion of Francisco Lindor‘s eventual extension, but let’s just wait a few years before panicking about that.

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The Indians will make a decision on these seven players before tonight, and there shouldn’t be any major surprises. Do you think the Indians should tender contracts to all seven?