Cleveland Indians extremely unlikely to sign Ubaldo Jimenez

It might be that these conversations were never really productive or never involved meaningful two-way dialogue, but the likelihood of a reunion between the Cleveland Indians and Ubaldo Jimenez has wavered back and forth this off-season.

To be clear, the Indians were never willing to pay Jimenez his asking price or give him a multi-year deal. The only circumstance under which he was going to return was a one-year “pillow deal.” That scenario sounds unlikely at this point, at least according to Paul Hoynes:

"There has been no communication between the Indians and Jimenez’s agent, Diego Bentz, since the end of January. What’s more the Indians value the draft pick they’ll receive for Jimenez if another team signs him.If they did re-sign Jimenez, the draft pick would have to figure into how much they’d pay Jimenez. The Indians will receive a pick between the first and second rounds of the June draft if another team signs Jimenez.”"

That should be sobering news for Jimenez and his value; the Indians will be playoff contenders in 2014, but they feel better about the draft pick they will receive if he signs elsewhere than they do about bringing him back to bolster such a post-season run.

It’s still hard for me to believe that the Indians wouldn’t listen if Jimenez cannot find a home and comes to them with hat in hand, but for now, they are giving off signals that they simply are not interested, whether he’s a good value or not.