Cleveland Indians Officially Keep Mike Aviles For 2015
By Ed Carroll
The Cleveland Indians decided to exercise a team option on utility player Mike Aviles, one of the few roster decisions the team will need to make this MLB offseason.
The Cleveland Indians exercised a $3.5-million team option on Mike Aviles today, officially retaining the versatile utility player for the 2015 season, and one of the few roster decisions Cleveland needed to make this offseason. The Indians could have elected to pay the 34-year old Aviles a $250,000 buyout, but Cleveland, and especially manager Terry Francona, value his versatility, and Aviles played six different positions in his second season in Cleveland.
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This move was expected, although it wasn’t a certainty that the cost-conscious Indians would retain Aviles, who had a poor year with the bat in 2014 and hasn’t been a good hitter for most of his career.
Aviles hit five home runs and stole 14 bases in various roles for the Indians, but his .273 on base percentage was the lowest in his career, and his defensive numbers took a hit due to the many positions he played in 2014.
He’s primarily a middle infielder, but saw time at third base (in a platoon with Lonnie Chisenhall), second base (due to an injury to Jason Kipnis) shortstop (mostly after Asdrubal Cabrera was traded), and left field (after Michael Brantley shifted to center to replace the injured Michael Bourn).
Aviles also appeared in games in right and center field, and has emerged as one of Francona’s more reliable substitutions.
It seems like a lot of money for a declining player, but perhaps Cleveland would rather be safe than sorry and have someone on the bench like Aviles who can fill in a number of spots.
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