Signed SS Asdrubal Cabrera to a 1-Year, $4.55M Contract

The Indians came as close to an arbitration hearing with Asdrubal Cabrera as they did to almost any arbitration-eligible player since 1991. But although that team tradition has been maintained, another has been largely abandoned. Only two players in the organization (Travis Hafner and "Fausto Carmona") are under multi-year contracts that were signed with the Indians before they were eligible for free agency. Perhaps the pendulum is swinging back towards year-to-year contracts, with players and agents more content to deal with short-term risks in exchange for a big free agent payday.

It's been very apparent that Shin-Soo Choo is going to test free agency as soon as possible, and now it looks like Cabrera will be doing the same. This was probably Cleveland's best opportunity to extend Cabrera past free agency, as once his free agent season rolls around, what risk there is is swallowed up in the glare of bright, shinning reward. Chris Antonetti also seems resigned to this:

"We're appreciative of Asdrubal's contributions," Indians general manager Chris Antonetti said. "We certainly value him as a member of the organization and a member of our team. He was a key part of our team over the last few seasons, and we're looking forward to him contributing in the time that he's with us.

With this anticlimactic signing, the Indians will head into Spring Training with a little over $60.0M on their payroll, with just the pre-arbitration players to sign. They should start the season with about a $66.0M or perhaps a $67.0M payroll, and no player on the roster being owed a 2013 salary.

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Signed 1B Casey Kotchman, to a 1-Year, $3.0M Contract

It's not official yet, but there's enough noise from people on the Tribe beat that I'll treat this as a done deal. Jon Heyman first reported that the Indians had signed Kotchman, and Paul Hoynes noted the salary.

And so the winter-long quest for a Bat is over. It's not over because Kotchman is that Bat, but because now that Kotchman has been signed, the Indians will cease looking for a Bat. Let me explain.

Kotchman had a career year in 2011, batting .306/.378/.422 for the Rays in 563 Plate Appearances. But that's tempered by a couple things: 1) his Batting Average on Balls in Play (BABIP) in 2011 was .335, well above the league average and well above anything he'd done in the past, and 2) the previous season (2010, with Seattle), he hit .217/.280/.336. In his non-Tampa career, Kotchman's batting line is .259/.326/.392 (91 OPS+). Players have been known to suddenly fundamentally change their games in mid-career (as we saw with Cliff Lee), so perhaps Kotchman's 2011 is a harbinger of success to come. But it looks like other MLB GMs were not that visionary.

I do think, though, that the signing has some positives. Kotchman has always been a very good defender at first base (career UZR of +32.3), and that should be a help behind a staff predicted to be full of ground-ball pitchers. If the Indians go with Jack Hannahan at third, they'll have very good defenders on both corners of the infield.

If you're Matt LaPorta, this type of signing isn't the worst thing in the world. Matt was going to AAA regardless of who they signed, but Kotchman isn't likely to stay in Cleveland beyond this year, whether it be due to success (free agency) or lack of it (minor-league free agency). So Matt will have a season in Columbus to earn another chance, and with the Indians only on the hook for $3M, they shouldn't feel obligated to play or keep Kotchman if he isn't hitting.

The Kotchman signing will make the Indians choose between Lonnie Chisenhall and Shelley Duncan this spring. I think Duncan still fits well on the roster, especially with the addition of a left-handed first baseman. He'd be one of the few right-handed power hitters in camp, and with Travis Hafner's injury history, he'd be a nice backup option for DH. But that would mean the Indians would have to send Lonnie Chisenhall to AAA.

The Indians had to bring in someone to force Matt LaPorta to AAA. This has been accomplished. But I don't think Kotchman is a Bat in the sense that Josh Willingham or Carlos Beltran or even Carlos Pena would have been. Kotchman is a modest improvement over what the Indians had, and no more.

The Indians added Russ Canzler from the Rays today, acquiring him for cash and a willingness to throw him on the 40. Canzler will compete against Matt LaPorta and, probably to a lesser extent, the pile of LF'ers the Indians have (Felix Pie, Aaron Cunningham, and favorite in the clubhouse Michael Brantley) for time at 1B and LF.

Canzler was drafted out of high school in the 30th round of the 2004 draft by the Chicago Cubs. He never hit at anything close to a prospect-level until he was getting his second look at AA. That was too late for the Cubs, though. Teams get six contract renewals with a player before they are forced to either grant him free agency or add him to the 40-man roster. The Cubs used last offseason to tackle their 1B deficiency aggressively when they signed Carlos Peña, and that plan was certainly already being formed when they elected to let Canzler walk.

Similarly, the Rays must have known that Peña's contract demands were not going to fit within their budget when they entered the winter break and, as a result, they went looking for ways to bolster depth. The eventual solution came in the form of Casey Kotchman but earlier in the ofseason, in mid-November, they signed Canzler to a minor-league contract as a way to backstop their free agent shopping and gird against injury.

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Placed Fausto Carmona* on Restricted List

Placing a player on the Restricted List removes him from the 40-man Roster and also stops his pay. Usually players that are placed on this list have been suspended by MLB for testing positive for Performance-Enhancing Drugs, or off-field legal issues (for example, the White Sox placed Alexei Ramirez on the Restricted List when they traveled to Toronto because the shortstop's work visa prevented him from re-entering the United States); in this case Indians used it for the latter reason. Carmona/Heredia is still under contract with the Indians while on the Restricted List.

The move seems to signal that the Indians will not attempt to void Carmona's contract, at least for now. Going from 28 to 31 years old is a big deal when it comes to free agency, but as Carmona is already under contract for the 2012 season, it shouldn't change the Indians' plans for him this year, assuming, of course, he can enter the country. He was slated for a spot in the rotation, and if he takes care of his legal and visa problems, he'd go back into the rotation, even if he doesn't arrive in the US until mid-season.

Indians manager Manny Acta, who was in the Cleveland area on Thursday for the team's "Tribe on Tour" event, said Carmona is still considered a big part of the team's rotation.

"He's a very important part of it," Acta said. "You don't find 200 innings on every corner of America. Just two years ago, he had 210 quality innings. But, life goes on."

Why did Carmona resort to purchasing someone else's identity? Because when he signed with the Indians, he was 20 years old, and even someone that young is too old for an amateur free agent from the Dominican Republic. Players in the US who don't get drafted high enough or drafted at all coming out of high school have the opportunity to play at the collegiate level and get a second opportunity to get a big bonus three years later at age 20 or 21, but that wasn't an option for Carmona.

"I believe that Major League Baseball is doing a tremendous job right now to help better the system," Acta said. "But, it's just been a flawed system for a long time, because you can be 21 [years old] and be a first-round pick out of college here [in the United States].

"When was the last time that anyone that was 21 was signed out of [the Dominican Republic] that you knew was 21? It's a system that in the past has forced those kids to do some of that stuff.

*Real name Roberto Hernandez Heredia

Signed RHP Dan Wheeler to a Minor-League Contract; Invited him to Spring Training

The Indians added yet another NRI to their already crowded list by signing Dan Wheeler to a minor-league deal. Wheeler pitched with the Red Sox last season, missing the last three weeks of the season with a right forearm injury. The arm injury, along with a poor (for a setup man) season both contributed to him having to take a minor-league deal. Wheeler immediately becomes a frontrunner for the open bullpen spot; in his second stint with Tampa Bay, he averaged 68 appearances from 2008-2010, and posted a .975 WHIP. If he's healthy, he should make the team.

Traded RHP Zach Putnam (AAA) to the Colorado Rockies for RHP Kevin Slowey

The juxtaposition of this deal to the news out of the Dominican Republic would seem to indicate the Indians are hedging themselves, but Chris Antonetti denied any direct correlation between the two events:

"There's obviously some uncertainty with Fausto's situation," Antonetti said. "But as we've talked about throughout the course of the offseason, we've looked for opportunities to improve the team in any way we can. This is a guy we've had interest in for a while.

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Signed RHP Robinson Tejeda to Minor-Leagu Contract with an Invitation to Spring Training

The Indians made an acquisition today, but it wasn't a corner bat. They signed relief pitcher Robinson Tejeda to a minor-league deal with an invite to Spring Training. The bullpen on paper looks to be the deepest position on the team, for the Indians not only will bring back six out of the seven relievers with forty appearances, the farm system is deepest in relief pitching. But Tejeda could help the team; before missing almost the entire 2011 season with a shoulder injury, he had a couple of decent seasons as a setup man with the Royals.

I'm back after a week out of the country (spent largely internet-less) and nothing of serious note appears to have happened in Indians-land. There are a few more rumors and a few minor moves, though, so we might as well.

Josh Judy is no longer a Cleveland Indian. The Cincinnati Reds claimed Judy after the Indians removed him from the 40-man roster in favor of the newly acquired Aaron Cunningham. Judy has been moving through the Indians farm system since being drafted in the 34th round in 2007. The right hander is a career reliever and he's moved up the chain more or less in the order you'd expect, finally making his (poor) major league debut last season. As a 25 year old career reliever with no significant major league experience, it was no great surprise that Judy was the first to be shown the door when the walls began to close on the back of the 40. However, that doesn't mean he didn't have his boosters. Lastoria has always liked Judy and had tagged him for a possible 2012 breakout in the mold of Pestano. That doesn't seem all that far-fetched—Judy has real stuff, with a fastball that can touch the mid-90s, but the reality is that most relievers in the "AAA depth" pile that Josh calls home never amount to much.

However, Lastoria is also correct to point out that this makes Cunningham's real price tag Corey Burns and Josh Judy and that this could all look pretty stupid if Cunningham can't make the roster and is lost on waivers. We'll wait until that actually happens to consider our misery, though. For now, the Indians have seen a couple of semi-interesting arms walk away in exchange for a semi-interesting bat at a position of far greater need.

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Let's get the first one out of the way—I'm sure you're all pretty familiar with Jose Lopez. Lopez was once an interesting little player for Seattle, hitting a combined 42 homeruns as the M's second baseman in 2008 and 2009. He was never much of a hitter and when his bat fell of in 2010, the fall wasn't pretty. Lopez OPS'd 611 in 2010 and 2011 as he dragged his cold, dying bat from the Mariners to the Rockies and then, to end last season, to the Marlins.

Lopez is, charitably, a utility infielder but his major league career is on life support at this point. As a result, he's not competing for utility innings in any realistic sense—the Indians are already stocked with Cord Phelps, Jason Donald, and Jack Hannahan, so they're pretty flush with backups at Lopez's "best" positions of 2B and 3B. Instead, as sometimes happens with players in decline, he's going to be asked to play a position that wouldn't have made sense for him even at his peak. Lopez will almost certainly try to offer the Indians a right-handed option at 1B, where he played a tad as a Marlin last season. This is going to be quite a trick if Lopez pulls it off—at his very best, he barely had enough bat for 2B so 1B is a stretch, to say the least. This isn't a case of a square peg in a round hole, it's a case of a small peg in a big hole. Still, he's right-handed, so he'll get a shot. I'll be surprised if he makes it to Cleveland this season.

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