Edwin’s Official: Updated Indians Contracts

We all knew the news awhile ago, but the Indians finally announced the signing of Edwin Encarnacion on Thursday as well as the breakdown of his contract (and the release of Edwin Escobar to make room) following his passing a physical (and attending a Cavs game) on Wednesday.

Originally, the contract was announced as $20M per year for three years with a $20M option for 2020 ($5M buyout), but the actual numbers were slightly different. Instead of $65M guaranteed, it is actually just $60M with a $25M option for 2020. Jordan Bastian has the full breakdown in this tweet:

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In addition to the guarantees, according to Jon Heyman, Encarnacion has up to $1M each year in attendance incentives and this seems well deserved as the Indians are reporting significant increases in season ticket holder sales. We’ve already covered Encarnacion’s effect on the lineup, so below is the updated look at the Indians guaranteed deals and years of control for the current roster.

Player	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
Corey Kluber	$7.7M	$10.7M	$13.2M	$13.5M	$14M
Yan Gomes	$4.58M	$6.03M	$7.08M	$9M	$11M
Jason Kipnis	$9.167M	$13.667M	$14.667M	$16.5M	FA
Edwin Encarnacion	$18M	$17M	$20M	$25M	FA
Carlos Carrasco	$6.5M	$8M	$9M	$9.5M	FA
Andrew Miller	$9M	$9M	FA
Michael Brantley	$8.375M	$11M	FA
Josh Tomlin	$2.5M	$3M	FA
Carlos Santana	$12M	FA
Bryan Shaw	A3	FA
Lonnie Chisenhall	A3	A4	FA
Zach McAllister	A2	A3	FA
Cody Allen	A2	A3	FA
Brandon Guyer	A2	A3	FA
Dan Otero	A1	A2	A3	FA
Trevor Bauer	A1	A2	A3	A4	FA
Danny Salazar	A1	A2	A3	A4	FA
Jose Ramirez	PreArb	A1	A2	A3	FA
Roberto Perez	PreArb	A1	A2	A3	FA
Austin Adams	PreArb	A1	A2	A3	FA
Abraham Almonte	PreArb	A1	A2	A3	FA
Kyle Crockett	PreArb	PreArb	A1	A2	A3
Francisco Lindor	PreArb	PreArb	A1	A2	A3
Cody Anderson	PreArb	PreArb	A1	A2	A3
Jesus Aguilar	PreArb	PreArb
Giovanny Urshela	PreArb	PreArb
Shawn Armstrong	PreArb	PreArb
Tyler Naquin	PreArb	PreArb	PreArb
Mike Clevinger	PreArb	PreArb	PreArb
Joseph Colon	PreArb	PreArb	PreArb
Perci Garner	PreArb	PreArb	PreArb
Erik Gonzalez	PreArb	PreArb	PreArb
Ryan Merritt	PreArb	PreArb	PreArb
Shawn Morimando	PreArb	PreArb	PreArb
Adam Plutko	PreArb	PreArb	PreArb
Tim Cooney	PreArb	PreArb	PreArb
Nick Goody	PreArb	PreArb	PreArb
Hoby Milner	PreArb	PreArb	PreArb
Chris Johnson	$9M	$1M
Guaranteed Min.	$86.82M	$67.15M	$55.61M	$10.16M	$2.0M

One interesting note on Encarnacion’s deal is that the first year is a higher value than the second, but the third is the highest. While the difference in amounts may not be significant, this makes sense given the Indians current make-up. While many players are due for arbitration raises for 2017, that pales in comparison to the escalations built into the contracts of Kipnis ($4.5M increase) and Corey Kluber ($3M). In addition, Brantley’s option isn’t included in the guaranteed minimum for 2018 (his buyout is), but should the Indians use the option it would add an extra ~$2.7M to his salary.

While some of this will be offset by Santana hitting free agency, that number will likely surpassed by a second set of arbitration raises for Bauer and Salazar and the third for Allen. The Indians could also afford to increase Encarnacion’s salary for 2019 because they have only three guaranteed contracts for that season (Kipnis, Gomes and Kluber). This allows the Indians the financial flexibility to make changes should they need to.

While many things could change over the next few years, at the moment it seems that the Indians could have offered any amount for the 2020 option as there is almost no chance they will use it to bring back a 37 year old DH. Of course, nothing is impossible, but the $5M buyout seems the more important figure at this point.

With the signing of Encarnacion, $39M of the Indians $87M guaranteed deals for 2017 is owed to players who can only play first base or DH, one of whom is no longer on the team. Of course, Encarnacion holds the highest single season and full contract as an Indian, but following him in 2017 guaranteed money are Santana ($12M), Kipnis ($9.2M), Miller ($9M) and Chris Johnson ($9M). That’s right, the Indians are paying Chris Johnson more than Corey Kluber, Danny Salazar, Carlos Carrasco, Francisco Lindor, Michael Brantley, Jose Ramirez and probably Cody Allen in 2017. This is how baseball works.