Cleveland Indians: Edwin Encarnacion, Travis Hafner and Big Contracts

The Cleveland Indians signed Edwin Encarnacion to the largest deal in franchise history, surpassing a memorable deal signed by Travis Hafner.

The Cleveland Indians are not a franchise that throws a lot of money at players, whether they be free agents or homegrown talent. That is why the three-year, $60 million deal given to Edwin Encarnacion was so surprising.

The deal has most Indians fans excited, but some of wary of investing so much in one player.

A reason for the skepticism may result from memories of the last time the Indians spent a large chunk of the payroll on one player. Does Travis Hafner‘s name ring a bell?

Hafner was one of the faces of the franchise after debuting with the Indians in 2003. From 2004-2007, he never had a season with less than 24 home runs or 100 RBI. His best year came in 2006, when he finished with a career-high 42 home runs and 117 RBI.

Hafner was also a key part of the 2007 team that made it to the ALCS, and his performance was good enough to earn a four-year, $57 million extension that would keep him in Cleveland through 2012. Unfortunately, the money didn’t go to a great cause.

The slugger dealt with several injuries after the 2007 season, and was never the player he was when he began his tenure with the Indians. In the four years of the contract extension, he never finished a season with more than 16 home runs, and only appeared in more than 100 games once (2010).

Knowing that so much money was tied up in Hafner was scarring for some fans, with the feeling re-ignited by the signings of both Michael Bourn and Nick Swisher in 2013.

So while Encarnacion has been a solid player for his entire career, he will still need to prove that he is worth $20 million a year. While Hafner did at least have four great years with the Indians before his downfall, Encarnacion is just joining the team, so there will be no sympathy if he performs poorly.

The Indians cannot afford for Encarnacion to be a bust, and it would be a major surprise if his numbers drastically declined in 2017. But no matter how he does, fans will always be conscious of the money he is making compared to how he is playing.

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Don’t blame the skeptics, it is just a product of being an Indians fan for so long.