HOUSTON -- Any time teams sign pitchers to contract extensions, there is more risk compared to other positions especially with how much they earn.
In the past, the Indians have decided the risks far outweigh the gains until this past week. After signing Corey Kluber to a five-year extension on Sunday, they officially announced a new deal with Carlos Carrasco on Tuesday.
Carrasco has a four-year extension through 2018 with club options in 2019 and '20. The deal is worth $22 million guaranteed over four with a maximum earning potential of $48 million over six. The right-hander gets his first start of the season on Wednesday against the Astros in the second of a three-game series.
"Everything's a risk with long-term deals," manager Terry Francona said. "But then when you go look at what you have to pay to bring in pitching, we know Carlos. He's already had his arm surgery. We already know how hard he works. It's better to gamble on the guys you know. You've got to have pitching. There is no crystal ball, but we've also seen how hard it is to bring pitching in, every team."
"I think it sends a good message to our fan base that despite where we may be on the pay scale, we're finding a way to sign our core group."
In another lesson on the premium placed on pitching, Rick Porcello signed a four-year extension with Boston worth $82.5 million. Porcello was acquired from the Tigers during the offseason and hasn't thrown a regular season pitch yet for the Red Sox.
With the latest extensions, the Indians have their entire rotation under team control through at least 2018. Trevor Bauer, TJ House and Danny Salazar aren't close to being arbitration eligible while Zach McAllister is arbitration eligible for the first time after this season.
"It's very comforting to know that we'll have guys that we feel can lead our rotation moving forward for the foreseeable future," general manager Chris Antonetti said. "Because of each guy's potential and performance, there was a lot of uncertainty around what it would cost to retain them moving forward. The benefit of having these contracts is we're able to plan better around them and build a better team around them."
The Carrasco extension has some similarities to when the Indians extended catcher Yan Gomes last year -- both had limited sample sizes but a lot of potential. All Gomes did last season was guide a rotation through some early turbulence along with winning a Silver Slugger award with a .278 batting average, 21 home runs and 74 RBI.
When he returned to the rotation from the bullpen on Aug. 10, Carrasco went 5-3 in 10 starts and had an MLB-low 1.30 ERA. During spring training, the right-hander was one of the first players in the weight room and built up his arm early with 10 bullpen sessions before his first Cactus League start.
"They gave me an opportunity last year, and I didn't want to waste it," Carrasco said. "I just followed Kluber by seeing what he did, coming early and working out. Let everyone see that in the rest of the rotation so that we can be great."
Off of that, the Indians are hoping that Kluber and Carrasco anchor their rotation for years to come. Antonetti said both sides briefly discussed an extension in January, when Carrasco signed a one-year deal avoiding arbitration, but that talks did not intensify until last week.
It takes some guys longer before everything clicks. Last year at this time, the Indians were taking plenty of hits for keeping Carrasco despite his inconsistency and not winning a game in nearly two years. With most big-market teams Carrasco wouldn't have been given another chance. The Indians didn't have that luxury and are hoping that their patience pays dividends.
"In a lot of places, you lose patience with a guy and he goes somewhere else, and that didn't happen here," Francona said. "Carlos had some pretty rough times here and he didn't end up going somewhere else. So instead of another team being the recipient of a good pitcher, we are. But you have to be patient to do that sometimes.
"The last couple years he wanted to be told he was a starter. And what he did was he went out and earned it, which is really more meaningful. He doesn't need smoke and mirrors and tricks to get on the mound, he now just has a solid routine, and when he follows that, he's good. And his work ethic has always been good but it's probably taken another level. Shoot, this kid should be confident. He throws 97, 98, he's got a changeup, a breaking ball, there's not much not to like. And he's starting to understand it and because of that, all of a sudden you've got a good pitcher."
