Cleveland Indians: Missed an opportunity to sign Addison Reed?

The Cleveland Indians have seen a lot of their relievers sign contracts with different teams this winter. The loss of Bryan Shaw was a big blow to the back end of the bullpen.

Entering the offseason, Addison Reed was one of the top non-closing options for teams to sign. Sure, Reed has experience being the 9th inning guy, but he would be perfectly content being a setup man.

According to MLB Trade Rumors, Reed had Cleveland “high” on his list of preferred destinations that he gave to his agent. Reed’s wife is from Akron and wanted to stay close to their home in the Midwest. So Reed wanted to come to Cleveland, but ended up signing a contract with the Minnesota Twins instead. What happened?

The report states that the Cleveland Indians didn’t have the payroll space to add to it’s bullpen. Reed signed a two year, $16.75 million contract. At over $8 million a season, it would have been difficult to add Reed to the payroll. The Tribe is already spending $9 million on Andrew Miller and $10.575 million on Cody Allen.

With a payroll already set for $135 million and the potential for an extension for Francisco Lindor, the Cleveland Indians could be close to maxing out their payroll.

Would Reed have fit in Cleveland?

All money aside, Reed would have been a great fit in the bullpen. He could have combined with Andrew Miller and Cody Allen to lock down the late innings. With Miller’s ability to pitch multiple innings in any situation, the Tribe would have been set.

Reed pitched to a 2.84 ERA last year with 19 saves. He saw a slight home run increase but his 9.0 K/9 is still strong and he only allowed 15 walks. While with the New York Mets, Reed was dominant, finishing with a 2.09 ERA in the Big Apple.

The payroll is stretched very thin right now and adding Addison Reed just wasn’t in the cards. The payroll situation will be something to watch going forward as the current group of players get more and more expensive each year. Keeping the team competitive without gaining any payroll flexibility is going to be a difficult task for this front office.

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It’s a shame that a player like Addison Reed that wanted to come to Cleveland was unable to do so because of the stretched payroll. Still, the Indians are going to be one of the best teams in the American League next year, with or without Reed. Instead, Reed is pitching for the division rival Minnesota Twins.