MLB Free Agency: Cleveland Indians open to one-year deal with Ubaldo Jimenez?

Hopefully Ubaldo Jimenez didn’t do anything dramatic or try to make a big statement upon departing Cleveland for the off-season. Planning on cashing in on a ridiculously good stretch over the final two months of the season, Jimenez might find himself back in Cleveland after all.

We have known that is a potential outcome for a while now, but today Paul Hoynse of the Northeast Ohio Media Group touched on what the specifics of such a deal might be:

"If Jimenez can’t get a three to four year deal, and comes knocking on the Tribe’s door, I bet both parties would jump at the chance to sign a one-year deal at or below $14 million. It would allow the Indians to keep a grip on their payroll and add a key arm to their rotation, while giving Jimenez a chance to prove last year wasn’t a fluke and take another bite of the free-agent apple after the 2014 season.”"

In a thinner market, Jimenez might have been able to cash in on a team’s willingness to gamble that those final months were no fluke. He ended up in the wrong off-season, though, and the combination of that and draft pick compensation means that Jimenez might have to settle for a one year deal.

Would he able to capitalize on such a deal and prove that he’s a front-line guy? It’s debatable; you could reasonably argue that he is living on the reputation of the first half of the 2010 season and the second half of 2013. Otherwise he has been frustrating, inconsistent, and one to stir up drama within the organization. It’s not surprising that teams do not want to invest a big contract in him, at least not yet.