The Cleveland Indians' season came to an end much sooner than they expected, but nonetheless, they are already focusing on their off-season moves to get ready for 2020. The Tribe has already announced that they will pick up their team 2020 option on starting pitcher Corey Kluber. The option will pay Kluber $17.5 million, despite him missing most of the 2019 campaign with an injury.
Kluber is a two-time Cy Young Award winner, but was held to just seven games this past regular season after taking a line drive to the right arm in Miami against the Marlins. That injury occurred in May and did break his arm, which caused him to miss the remainder of the season. The 33-year-old had recorded at least 203 innings in each of the past five seasons before 2019, winning the Cy Young Award in both the 2016 and 2017 seasons.
This move is somewhat unexpected, but mostly because of the timing, as the Indians are a team that is known for holding off on making big moves. They did also announced that they would decline their 2020 option on second baesman Jason Kipnis. That option would've paid Kipnis $16.5 million, but he would receive a $2.5 million buyout. The infielder has spent his entire nine-year career with Cleveland, but injuries held the former All-Star to 93 games this past season.
Kluber is a two-time Cy Young Award winner, but was held to just seven games this past regular season after taking a line drive to the right arm in Miami against the Marlins. That injury occurred in May and did break his arm, which caused him to miss the remainder of the season. The 33-year-old had recorded at least 203 innings in each of the past five seasons before 2019, winning the Cy Young Award in both the 2016 and 2017 seasons.
This move is somewhat unexpected, but mostly because of the timing, as the Indians are a team that is known for holding off on making big moves. They did also announced that they would decline their 2020 option on second baesman Jason Kipnis. That option would've paid Kipnis $16.5 million, but he would receive a $2.5 million buyout. The infielder has spent his entire nine-year career with Cleveland, but injuries held the former All-Star to 93 games this past season.
