Report: Pitcher Corey Kluber and Indians Reach Extension

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The Cleveland Indians and 2014 Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber have agreed to a five-year guaranteed extension with two club option years. The deal is reported to have $38 million guaranteed over the five-year commitment. CBS’s Jon Heyman broke the news.

Kluber deal is done pending physical

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) April 5, 2015

According to CBS’s Jon Heyman, the deal can reach a maximum dollar amount of $77 million. Incentives, such as top 10 Cy Young Award placing, vesting options, and finishing atop the division all play a factor.

Kluber is coming off an award winning season hosting numbers such as 2.44 ERA and 1.095 WHIP in 235.2 innings pitched. The 28 year-old bloomed late in his career to become the pitcher he is today. Although the deal is not anymore in the range of  a high end pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) the deal plays vastly in the favor of the Indians. If the Indians recieve anything in the relative ballpark as to what Kluber provided last year, they will have had a competitive bargain for Kluber’s services.

Keep in mind, the Indians are not in a rebuilding state of mind. They intend to compete in the American League Central (AL Central), possibly one of the most competitive divisions in the MLB. The Indians finished 85-77, third in the AL Central. With locking up a younger budding star, the Indians are making appropriate moves in an attempt to top the AL Central in 2015.