Cleveland Indians: Tribe agrees with Chisenhall, Salazar; not Bauer

The arbitration filing deadline came and went on Friday. The Cleveland Indians were able to come to agreements with most of their players, but not all of them.

After agreeing with Cody Allen and Zach McAllister the other day, the Indians had three remaining arbitration cases coming into Friday. Those players were Lonnie Chisenhall, Danny Salazar, and Trevor Bauer.

Lonnie Chisenhall

Chisenhall agreed to a one year, $5.575 million deal for the 2018 season. That contract is a nice increase over the $4.3 million he earned last season.

He posted a .288/.360/.521 slash line with 12 homers and 53 RBIs last year. Chisenhall has never been much for power but he’s hit his way to at least a .280 average in three of the last four seasons.

This is Chisenhall’s last year of arbitration. He is set to become a free agent after the 2018 season. The 29 year old had a couple stints on the disabled list in 2017. He’s played all over the outfield and could be good value on the free agent market should he choose not to return to the Cleveland Indians.

Danny Salazar

The pitcher that’s been at the center of some trade rumors this winter has also agreed to a contract for the 2018 season. Salazar and the Indians settled on a $5 million deal.

Salazar, like Chisenhall, spent time on the DL in 2017, with shoulder soreness and elbow inflammation. He suffered through a down season, posting a 4.28 ERA, the highest of his career. Although he did have a marked increase in his strikeout rate, going from 10.6 K/9 in 2016 to 12.7 K/9 last year.

Salazar still has two more years of arbitration to go after this. The 28 year old righty needs to be able to stay healthy in 2018 to continue to be a major part of this Indians rotation. He’s dealt with several arm injuries over the last two years and health should be Salazar’s primary goal in 2018.

Trevor Bauer

Bauer was the only Cleveland Indians player that was not able to reach an agreement today. After earning $3.55 million last season, Bauer is looking to nearly double his salary.

As you can see, there is quite the discrepancy between the two parties. With such a big difference, it’s no surprise that the two weren’t able to come to an agreement on a deal. If this goes to a hearing, a three person panel will choose which of these two salaries Bauer should earn.

The likelihood of reaching that hearing isn’t very high. The Indians try to avoid those hearings if at all possible. Bauer is coming off his best year yet, finishing with a 4.19 ERA, striking out 10 batters per nine innings. He was just four strikeouts shy of reaching 200 for the season.

MLB Trade Rumors projected Bauer to earn $7.7 million in arbitration this year, a clear overestimation as Bauer filed over a million dollars below that projection. There’s still plenty of time for Bauer and the Tribe to reach a middle ground before heading to a hearing in February.

Next: A Mock Trade with the Brewers

With the filing deadline out of the way, perhaps MLB teams can now focus on making free agent acquisitions and trades and get this slow offseason moving.