This morning the Cleveland Indians announced that they have signed All-Star second baseman Jason Kipnis to a six-year extension worth $52.5 million in guaranteed salary. The contract will cover Kipnis through the 2019 season, and also contains a club option for 2020. The deal is heavily backloaded, breaking down thusly: $2MM (2014), $4MM (2015), $6MM (2016), $9MM (2017), $13.5MM (2018) and $14.5MM (2019). The option is also worth a whopping $16.5 million.
Kipnis is only 27, and is just entering his prime, so the Indians should be able to get a lot of production out of Kipnis before he hits free agency. Kipnis is one of the best hitters on the team, second only to Carlos Santana in OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage), and was the team leader in batting average. Jason Kipnis is also a decent fielder, cleaning putting away 98% of the balls he got to in 2013. However, he also led the team with twelve errors. The Indians will gladly absorb that number, though, as the calling card of Kipnis is his bat.
The extension is the latest in a set of new contracts handed out by the Indians to their players since the end of the 2013 season. They began by giving outfielder Michael Brantley four years and $25 million, and then locked up catcher Yan Gomes for six years and $23 million. Pitching phenom Danny Salazar figures to be next in line to get paid, after extension negotiations with staff leader Justin Masterson seem to have fallen through, in what is Masterson’s last year under contract.
After an offseason in which excess has been a hallmark, these cheap extensions show a remarkable amount of restraint for GM Chris Antonetti in building a team that can contend for years to come.
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