Cleveland Indians Contractual Obligations Heading into 2019

With the Indians’ season ending early, it’s very possible that Michael Brantley, Lonnie Chisenhall, Cody Allen and Andrew Miller have played their last games for Cleveland. They will be free agents along with quite a few other 2018 Indians (for a complete list, check out yesterday’s article). Who is left and for how long? The following chart breaks down who the Indians currently owe money to, how much and until when. Light blue boxes are guaranteed, dark blue are team options with the value if used listed. Arbitration seasons for players still in pre-arbitration seasons have not been set in stone.

Notes:

• Brandon Guyer’s 2019 option is the only option that the Indians could reasonably decline. He has a $250K buyout, but will only have a $3M salary.
• Edwin Encarnacion has an attendance clause that will give him a $150K bonus for the first 2M Fans, then another bonus at 2.15M, 2.3M, 2.5M and 2.75M with a $250K bonus for 3M fans. The Indians finished about 74,000 fans short of 2M this year.
• Yonder Alonso’s $9M 2020 option will vest if he reaches 526 plate appearances in 2019 and passes a physical at the end of the season, so expect him to platoon a lot more next year.
• All players listed as in arbitration or pre-arbitration can be non-tendered and released without pay.
• Leonys Martin is still under team control despite signing with the Tigers as a free agent last year. There is question about whether he will be able to play in 2019 due to his current health situation.
• Notable players who are out of options in 2019 include Erik Gonzalez, Tyler Olson, Nick Goody and Brandon Barnes. Yandy Diaz, Tyler Naquin and Adam Plutko should have one remaining option.