Rzepczynski, Chisenhall avoid arb with Tribe
CLEVELAND -- The Indians have a long history of trying to avoid the arbitration process with their players. On Thursday night, the club settled on one-year contracts with three of its eligible players, reaching agreements with lefty Marc Rzepczynski, third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall and starter Carlos Carrasco.
Sources confirmed to MLB.com that Rzepczynski is scheduled to earn $2.4 million, Chisenhall will make $2.25 million and Carrasco will take home $2.3 million on one-year contracts for the 2015 campaign.
That leaves right fielder Brandon Moss, setup man Bryan Shaw and starter Josh Tomlin as the club's only remaining arbitration-eligible players.
Unsigned arbitration candidates are scheduled to exchange proposed salary figures for 2015 with their respective teams on Friday. If necessary, the arbitration hearings will run from Feb. 1-21, but Cleveland has only gone to a hearing twice (Vinnie Pestano and Tomlin both went before a panel last spring) since 1991.
Video: CLE@KC: Rzepczynski fans the side in order in the 7th
Last season, the 29-year-old Rzepczynski posted a 2.74 ERA in 46 innings within a career-high 73 appearances. Rzepczynski, Shaw, Cody Allen and Scott Atchison helped the Indians set a single-season American League record for the most pitchers with at least 70 appearances apiece. Along the way, Rzepczynski struck out 46, walked 19 and limited lefty batters to a .180 average.
Since being acquired from the Cardinals in exchange for Minor League infielder Juan Herrera on July 30, 2013, Rzepczynski has posted a 2.17 ERA in 100 games for the Indians. Rzepczynski is one of only 15 lefty pitchers in the AL to log at least that many appearances over the past two seasons and his ERA ranks first within that group.
Rzepczynski will head into the 2015 season as Cleveland's most veteran left-hander locked into a job in the bullpen, with lefties Nick Hagadone and Kyle Crockett also in the mix for roles.
Chisenhall, 26, posted a .280/.343/.427 slash line with 13 home runs, 29 doubles and 59 RBIs in 142 games last season, marking the best tour of his career. In parts of four years with the Tribe, the third baseman has hit .260/.310/.417 with 36 homers, 65 doubles and 133 RBIs in 345 games. Last year, Chisenhall hit .393 (1.057 OPS) in his first 53 games and then hit .219 (.614 OPS) in his final 89 games.