Indians, Michael Brantley Agree to Four Year Contract Extension

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According to Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer,  Michael Brantley gave up his arbitration eligible status Monday to commit himself to the Cleveland Indians for the next four years. It must be pretty good being a member of the Cleveland Indians these days, getting a long-term and lucrative deal like this. The two had been in arbitration talks and this deal brings those to an end before the arbitration hearing that was scheduled for February 17th.

The contract is huge for Brantley. Prior to this contract Brantley had asked the Indians for $3.8 million while the club was offering him$2.7 million. Now, he stands to make up to $36 million. It is a guaranteed $6.25 million a year for the first four years and there is a club option for 2018 worth another $11 million if it is picked up.

Brantley has been in MLB for five years totaling three full years of service and this was his first time being eligible for arbitration.  He only made $526,900 in 2013.  At just 24 years old this gives Brantley stability for a good portion of his career.

The Indians seemed to have made the right decision in locking down Brantley, not unlike the Atlanta Braves locking down young stars like Freddie Freeman and Jason Heywood.

Freddie Freeman, Getty Images

Brantley is a healthy young kid who has only once, in five years, been on the disabled list. He has a career batting average of .277 with 26 career home runs and 212 career RBI. He stole 17 bases last season and his speed also helped him on defense as he split time between left and center field. His career fielding percentage is .994. In his five years with Cleveland he has only recorded seven errors and 21 outfield assists. He played in 151 out of 162 games in 2013 hitting .284 with 10 home runs, 73 RBI and .728 OPS.

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Indians to Unveil Statue of Jim Thome

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The Cleveland Indians announced Saturday that they will unveil a statue of former player Jim Thome at Cleveland’s Progressive Field on August 2 of this year. Thome, who played two stints (1991-2002, 2011) with the Indians over his 22-year career, is the Indians’ all time leader in home runs (337) and one of their most popular players ever. Only one other Cleveland player, Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller, has received the same honor.

The statue is going to be a depiction of Thome in the batter’s box directing his bat towards the pitcher. The stance was inspired by Robert Redford’s character, Roy Hobbs, in the movie The Natural. While in coming up in Cleveland’s minor league system his hitting coach, Charlie Manuel, suggested the stance to Thome as a way to loosen him up while at the plate. It certainly worked for Thome. He told members of the Associated Press,

Charlie had seen a clip of Roy Hobbs pointing the bat. When I got in the box, I was tense, everything was tight. He wanted to create that relaxing feeling in the box for me and pointing the bat did that. It got my trigger ready to hit.

Thome is humbled and honored by the Indians’ tribute to him saying,

As a player, I don’t even want to say you dream of that. When it happens, when the opportunity comes about, it’s humbling. It’s just a wonderful thing. My family is just ecstatic about it.

Besides his two stints with the Indians, Thome also played for the Philadelphia Phillies, the Chicago White Sox, the Lost Angeles Dodgers, the Minnesota Twins and the Baltimore Orioles. He retired in 2012 with a total 612 home runs (seventh all-time) being one of only eight players to ever hit over 600 home runs in their career.

Thome now works as a special assistant to the White Sox.

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Hafner to Coach for Notre Dame College; Continue Playing

Former Cleveland Indians’ designated hitter Travis Hafner has become a member of the baseball coaching staff at Notre Dame College as a volunteer assistant coach. The school’s head coach is also a former Indian, pitcher Len Barker. The college is located in South Euclid, Ohio.

Hafner, who played for the Yankees last season, has been helping out with the team during the off-season and wants to continue doing so as his “schedule permits.” His responsibilities will center, of course, around offense Hafner told Cleveland.com’s Dennis Manoloff by phone on Wednesday,

“One of my passions is working with young hitters, and I look forward to doing so for Lenny and Notre Dame College.”

Hafner, 36, came into the majors with the Texas Rangers in 2002 but was traded that off-season to the Indians. He spent ten seasons with the Indians and last season with the New York Yankees. Currently still a free agent, Hafner intends to continue playing Major League Baseball.

He is a career .273 hitter with 213 home runs and 731 RBI.  Last season, however, Hafner’s numbers were way down. He batted .202 with 12 home runs in 82 games with the Yankees. Still, Hafner insists he is ready for the 2014 season,

“I’m working out every day, getting ready for the upcoming season.  The body and swing feel good.”

This year is the first year for the Notre Dame College Falcons in the Mountain East Conference and the college’s second year as an NCAA-II school. Their season opens on February 22 against King College in Bristol, Tennessee. The Falcons’ home games will be played at All Pro Freight Stadium in Avon, Ohio.

Both head coach Barker and the school’s Director of Athletics Scott Swain expressed their enthusiasm about having Hafner as part of their staff. Said Swain,

“We’re ecstatic to have someone as accomplished as Travis as a part of our department. His remarkable career with the Indians is well documented, and his presence, hard work, and dedication should help us a ton moving forward.”

Barker continued on saying,

“We’re very excited to have Travis on board. He’ll be a big part of what we’re trying to do here, and that’s win a conference championship.”

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A's Sign Free Agent Lefty Scott Kazmir to 2 Year Deal

In a surprise move the Oakland Athletics signed free-agent LHP Scott Kazmir to a two year $22 million deal Monday.  This is a gutsy move for Oakland but it is the type of acquisition Billy Beane is almost expected to make. In Kazmir, Beane found a potential star player who's market value is low. Once a promising All -Star starting pitcher, Kazmir was released by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in 2011 seemingly ending his baseball career.

Kazmir had a promising career debuting in 2004 at the age of 20 with the then Tampa Bay Devil Rays (now Tampa Bay Rays), making the All Star team in 2006 and again in 2008. After a string of injuries and a drop in velocity he was traded to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in August 2009. After a decent showing for the Angels in 2009 and part of 2010 his production dropped and he was released in 2011. Not picked up by any other teams he was thus out of the major leagues at the young age of 27.

During 2012 Kazmir still clenched tightly and diligently to his major league dreams. He played independent ball that year and moved on to play in the Puerto Rican League that winter. In December 2012 he signed a minor-league deal with the Cleveland Indians, giving him an outside opportunity to make Cleveland's starting rotation.

Surprisingly, Kazmir made Cleveland's 2013 roster as their number five starter. Kazmir was 10-9 in 2013 with a 4.04 ERA, not stand out numbers but it did make him an intriguing free-agent this off season and one that the A's could afford. Not only that in 2010 Kazmir's velocity had dropped from the mid 90's to barely being able to hit the 90 mph mark. But with Cleveland in 2013 his velocity was back up to 95-96 mph, the same form as when he led the American League in strikeouts in 2007 with 239. At only 29, he is young but with two All-Star games under his belt he could be the, albeit young, veteran that they Athletics' have been seeking to lead their young rotation. The A's rotation consists now of Kazmir (29), Jarrod Parker (25), A.J. Griffin (25), Dan Straily (25) and Sonny Gray (24) with Tommy Milone (26) also in the mix for the fifth rotation spot

This of course changes a lot for the Athletics and the many predictions of what they were planning this off season. It was as recently as this week still rumored that Oakland was going to try and re-sign 40 year old Bartolo Colon who despite his age and being suspended 50 games for PED use in 2012 had two good years for the A's ending 2013 second in the American League in both wins(18) and ERA (2.65). Colon, however, was asking more than the Athletics were able to pay and it was looking as though they would lose out to other interested clubs like the Angels. The acquisition also answers the questions surrounding trading starting pitcher Brett Anderson to another team in need of good pitching who is also willing to gamble on a player with a long history of injuries. Hopefully for the Athletics that team in need will have a strong bat that they will be willing to part with.

Signing Kazmir seems like the perfect Billy Beane move. If Kazmir remains healthy and consistently reaches his optimum velocity the Athletics may just have found a young veteran and key southpaw starter to lead their young rookie rotation at a price that Oakland can afford.

Read the rest of my article on Sports Unbiased, your website for all Sports News, Polls and Predictions! (and my articles! lol)