Extension with Justin Masterson, Indians breaks down
By Matt Fisher
It doesn’t appear that the Indians were willing to accept two friendly contract deals from their ace pitcher.
Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports has just reported that any talk of an extension between Justin Masterson and the Cleveland Indians has fallen apart. He says that it is practically assured that Masterson will be a free agent at the end of the 2014 season.
Amid all of the talks of extensions happening in organizations such as the Dodgers, Yankees, and most notably the Braves, much had been made of a potential lengthened contract between Masterson and the Indians. This talk started after the Cincinnati Reds extended Homer Bailey for six years at $105 million. The two pitchers are seen to be very similar and rumors had floated that Masterson could garner a similar contract.
As this talk began to get underway, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports discovered that Masterson was very, very willing to offer Cleveland a discount on both years and dollars. Masterson reportedly approached the Indians management with an extension offer of three-years and $50 million, which would have been a pretty good bargain for the club. His most recent offer, according to Rosenthal, was for three years at an average annual value of less than $17.5 million. The 28-year old stated repeatedly that he would love to stay in Cleveland and even predicted he would be with the Indians for a few more years. That doesn’t appear to be the case now, as talks apparently never progressed beyond the proposal.
The right-hander from Jamaica has established himself as Cleveland’s ace since coming over from Boston in 2009. Last season, in which Masterson made his first All-Star appearance, he pitched to a 14-10 record with a 3.45 ERA over 29 starts in 193 innings. He struck out 195 and earned three complete game shut outs.
Masterson will likely be one of the prized targets sought after in the free agent market next winter along with Detroit’s Max Scherzer (if they haven’t extended him by then).