CLEVELAND — Officially, the Cleveland Indians don't have to make a decision on Corey Kluber's future with the team until five days after the World Series comes to an end.
Yet despite that date being nearly a month away, it appears the Indians already know what they are going to do.
Meeting with reporters on Wednesday, team president Chris Antonetti revealed the Indians intend on exercising Kluber's $17.5 million option for the 2020 season. Meanwhile, Cleveland won't pick up the contract options for either second baseman Jason Kipnis or relief pitcher Dan Otero, allowing both players to hit the free agent market in the upcoming offseason.
While picking up Kluber's contract option seemed like a no brainer just a year ago, the decision became more complicated over the course of the 2019 season. After amassing a 2-3 record and 5.80 ERA through his first seven starts, the right-hander saw his season come to an end on May 1 when he suffered a fractured right forearm after being struck by a line drive hit by Miami Marlins outfielder Brian Anderson.
With Kluber, Carlos Carrasco and Mike Clevinger each missing extended playing time due to injuries (or in Carrasco's case, illness), and Trevor Bauer being dealt away at the trade deadline, Cleveland found itself relying on multiple young players in its starting rotation throughout the 2019 campaign. Those pitchers -- in particular, rookies Zach Plesac and Aaron Civale -- proved capable enough that some began to speculate the Indians could decline the 33-year-old Kluber's option and use his $17.5 million salary to improve its roster elsewhere.
That speculation, however, proved to be just that. And while a setback in his recovery prevented the 2-time Cy Young Award winner from returning to the Indians' rotation in 2019 as originally planned, Cleveland's management remains confident he'll return to his All-Star form.
"The way he goes about his work, it's impeccable," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "And I actually think this will have been a blessing in disguise. Not that we didn't miss him, because we did. But having him back next year, I think he'll be back and closer to Kluber -- the one that we've seen in the past.
"We rode him pretty hard for six years. That's what you do with great pitchers. Now he got a little bit of a break -- even with his body, not just his arm. And hopefully he'll have another one of those years in him next year."