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Cleveland Indians: An Update on Carlos Santana’s 2017 Option

By Andrew Schmid

Jun 17, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Indians designated hitter Carlos Santana (41) rounds the bases after hitting a game winning solo home run during the ninth inning at Progressive Field. The Indians beat the White Sox 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 17, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Indians designated hitter Carlos Santana (41) rounds the bases after hitting a game winning solo home run during the ninth inning at Progressive Field. The Indians beat the White Sox 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports /
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Carlos Santana has been a productive member of the Cleveland Indians for years – will the team decline his option for next year?

When the Cleveland Indians first acquired Carlos Santana in exchange for Casey Blake back in 2008, he was still only 22 years old and playing in High-A. By the end of the year, Baseball America had ranked him as the top prospect in the Indians organization, an honor he took home the next year as well. Within two days, he had achieved his first Major League hit, run batted in, and home run. 

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The switch-hitter has gone on to become one of the best parts of the Cleveland Indians’ offense and a consistent top producer. Over his entire career, he has yet to be worse than league average with his bat, and he has been a reliable member of the lineup. While he has come under fire from some fans, he has truly been a quality player for the Indians as I noted in this defense of his offense last year.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and the Cleveland Indians will have to make a decision about the 30-year-old’s future with the team. The team will have the option to pick up his option for $12 million, or they can buy it out for $1.2 million. This means that the decision is whether he will be worth $10.8 million next year.

On the surface, $10.8 million seems like a lot of money – and it is. For a baseball player, however, $10.8 million is not that much money. Average players will take home average annual salaries above that mark on the free market, so Santana could be a bit of a bargain at that rate. With Mike Napoli and Rajai Davis likely to be moving on, there should be some room to keep Santana in the fold, right?

Well, perhaps not. Jason Kipnis, Corey Kluber, Michael Brantley, Yan Gomes, Carlos Carrasco, and Josh Tomlin will all be receiving raises from their current salaries. Believe it or not, Chris Johnson will be joining those players in the raise department, as the Indians are still paying his contract. When accounting for these increases combined with expected arbitration raises for some key players like Cody Allen, Lonnie Chisenhall, and Zach McAllister, the Indians have an expected payroll of $93.2 million for next year.

Certainly, this is not an exorbitant amount of money in the grand scale of baseball, and Cot’s Baseball Contracts marks that as slightly less than this year’s Opening Day payroll of $96.3 million. Exercising Santana’s option would bring that total up to $104.4 million, which is certainly more than this year’s mark but perhaps not quite out of reach. 

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The biggest problem with this is that it would leave the team with very little wiggle room to make additions like Mike Napoli and Rajai Davis. Instead, the team would have to rely on in-house solutions like Clint Frazier to solve any further outfield dilemmas. Clearly, this is not an ideal situation, and it could mean that it is time to make a few trades.

Cody Allen, who is likely to command somewhere around $6 million could be a good trade piece. Despite getting off to a rough start, he has a 2.79 earned run average for this year, marking the fourth straight season that he has posted a sub-three ERA. Fielder independent metrics feel that this could be a bit optimistic, and he has seen a dip in strikeouts while increasing the walk totals. This could scare off some potential buyers, but the market for closers is hot right now.

An additional option would be to move Jason Kipnis. A key cog in the Indians’ infield, he is in the midst of another great season and would be sure to command some quality prospects while relieving the team of about $9 million next year and even more money down the road. Such a trade would cause problems with the infield, but the team could try moving Jose Ramirez back to second base and use the savings to fiddle with the outfield.

Of course, all of these problems would be solved if the Indians let their payroll rise a bit more. Spending $110 million a year on players is a luxury that would please many fans, and it could be a possibility. It seems a little farfetched, however, since attendance has been usually terrible this season. With games averaging just 18,329 people this year even though the Indians are winning the American League Central, it appears that the old argument that fans will go when the team wins is a lie.

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With the payroll crunch looking to become a problem, it will be interesting to see what Chris Antonetti and the Front Office do this winter. As great as it would be to have Carlos Santana back on a bargain contract, there might not be enough money to go around. Hopefully, the team can find a creative solution to this problem.

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