Indians Are Sold on Multiyear Deals

The Cleveland Indians pioneered the concept, buying young players out of the early years of arbitration eligibility by offering the security of a multiyear contract, providing the club with a hedge against inflating salaries and a measure of cost predictability.

If giving multiyear contracts to players with zero to two years of service time was widely criticized as a dangerous gamble initially, it has been widely adopted since.

The Angels, for example, have signed virtually all of their best young players to multiyear deals: Tim Salmon, Jim Edmonds, Garret Anderson, Troy Percival and Gary DiSarcina, among them. In fact, from the economic standpoint of beating year-to-year inflation and the uncertain specter of arbitration, General Manager Bill Bavasi says the Angels have done a better job of it than Cleveland or anyone else.

“I’m being a little obnoxious, I admit it, but we’ve looked at a lot of those deals and I feel we’ve done better at it,” Bavasi said.

“I would also admit that it was Cleveland’s idea, and I take my hat off [to the Indians]. All we’re trying to do is improve on a good idea.”

There are different measures, of course, but it would be hard to prove the Angels have done better at it.

The Indians have the best record in baseball over the last three years, continue to sell out Jacobs Field and are turning a yearly profit, according to General Manager John Hart.

The stability and continuity stemming from the multiyear contracts--regardless of the departures of Carlos Baerga last summer, Albert Belle last winter and Kenny Lofton this spring--are a large part of the success story.

“We wouldn’t change a thing,” Hart said. “It’s something we’ll continue. Without the stability, cost predictability and creativity to get it done, the franchise wouldn’t have had the success it has had, and I think everyone knows how far we’ve come.”

From a dormant franchise operating in a dilapidated stadium, the Indians have become one of baseball’s hottest tickets, on and off the field.

The contract concept provided a foundation, wrapping up the nucleus at different times of Belle, Baerga, Lofton, Jim Thome, Sandy Alomar Jr., Jose Mesa, Manny Ramirez, Charles Nagy, Omar Vizquel and Julian Tavarez, among others.

Eventually, of course, inflation tends to win.

Contracts expire and previously unproven players who turn into stars while helping their team win championships, start commanding salaries too large for their team to retain.

Belle, for example, wanted to be baseball’s highest-paid player. The Indians, Hart said, couldn’t justify putting 20-25% of the payroll into one player.

Lofton was offered a five-year, $43.25-million contract but wouldn’t bite, and Hart said he couldn’t risk determining if the center fielder was bluffing. Belle had left as a free agent, the Indians getting only draft compensation in return. Hart wanted more for Lofton and got it in the trade for David Justice and Marquis Grissom.

Only nine of the 23 players who participated in 1995 World Series remain in the organization, but the Indians remain a formidable team that should compete for a third consecutive division title despite pitching concerns.

Said Orel Hershiser: “I thought our ’96 team was better than our ’95 team and our ’97 team may be better than ’96. I’m not sure we’ll annihilate people like we did with the ’95 and ’96 teams, but we’ll be a lot better close-game team. I mean, we’re better defensively, and even though we’ve lost Kenny, I think this team has more overall team speed than last year. We also have a better bench and more professionalism on this team from people who know what to do in certain game situations.”

Some of that refers to the departures of left fielder Belle and second baseman Baerga and the acquisitions of third baseman Matt Williams (for some of the players acquired in the Baerga trade), second baseman free agent Tony Fernandez and outfielders Justice and Grissom.

“Almost all of the guys we put on the field have been champions,” Hart said. “They all have rings, and you couldn’t say that about a team where one or two guys were making all the money. There are no gaping holes. We expect to contend. If we’re in the pennant race in August and September, we’ll have had a successful season.”

The price continues to rise. The payroll is $51 million, up from $8 million when Hart became GM in 1992 and $26.8 million in ‘94, the first year of Jacobs Field, and $35 million in ‘95, when the Indians went to the World Series for the first time since 1954.

“I have the advantage of operating in a small to mid-market with a stadium-driven revenue that allows us to compete as a big market and an owner who has the appetite to reinvest in the team,” Hart said. “With escalating salaries and the horrible ramifications of the strike and the sea of red in baseball, we’ve shown a profit each of those years, and in this country that shouldn’t be a bad word.

“I mean, the Indians have stood out. We’ve won and haven’t lost any money. . . . Peter O’Malley is selling the Dodgers. What does that tell you about the state of the game?”

As for the future of the robust Indians, Hart said, “For the first time this decade we’re dealing with the economic realities of baseball in the ‘90s, but I don’t think the window is closing on us. I think we have the ability to be a contending team every year, providing we remain creative and flexible and stay within certain economic parameters.”

And continue to create stability in an unstable environment by signing young players to multiyear contracts, such as the three-year deals recently given pitchers Chad Ogea and Paul Shuey. If some clubs think they’ve done it better, so be it, Hart said, adding, “I’m excited about what we’ve done and what we can continue to do.”