Report: Indians won't offer Ubaldo Jimenez multiyear deal

Published Oct. 25, 2013 3:29 p.m. ET

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The Indians won't offer Ubaldo Jimenez a multiyear deal, but are still deciding if they'll make him a $14 million qualifying offer, according to Paul Hoynes of The Plain Dealer/Cleveland.com.

Once the World Series concludes, the 2014 MLB offseason will officially begin and the Indians will have some decisions to make.

Based on the way Jimenez pitched in 2013, the team will most likely pick up his $8 million club option and he will most likely decline. If that's the case, the Indians will have to make a qualifying offer worth $14 million, which he will also most likely decline. (You can thank Tim Lincecum for that.)

To put it simply, Ubaldo Jimenez will become a free agent in about two weeks.

Hoynes' story from Cleveland.com explains the scenario:

There is no chance that the Indians offer Jimenez a multiyear deal. All thoughts of that were washed away when the Giants signed Tim Lincecum earlier this week to a two-year, $35 million deal. Jimenez and Lincecum, each 29, would have entered this winter’s free agent class together if the Giants didn’t sign their veteran right-hander.

The biggest question the Indians face will be whether to offer him a $14 million qualifying offer, which is based on the average of the top 125 contracts in the big leagues.

The deadline for the Indians to make such an offer to Jimenez is 5 p.m. ET on the fifth day after the final game of the World Series. Jimenez would then have seven days to accept or decline. If he accepts, he’ll stay with the Indians on a one-year deal worth $14 million.

If he signs with another team, the Indians will receive a draft pick at the end of the first round in 2014.

Once free agency begins, the Indians will also have to take a look at Scott Kazmir and whether or not they want to offer him a multiyear deal. Kazmir will be an unrestricted free agent coming off a one-year deal he signed with the Indians last offseason, so his contract situation is pretty straight forward.

With Jimenez no longer in the cards, the Indians would certainly benefit from working out a deal with Kazmir. While the team would no longer have money tied up in Jimenez, the contract he signs will affect the market price for Kazmir and any other free agent pitchers they might have their eye on.