| QUOTE |
| CLEVELAND (AP) -- Fausto Carmona, a surprising 19-game winner last season, agreed to terms of a seven-year contract with the Cleveland Indians on Thursday. A person familiar with the negotiations says Carmona's deal will be announced later in the day. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the contract has not been finalized. The deal runs through 2011 and includes club options from 2012-2014. The 24-year-old Carmona went 19-7 with a 3.06 ERA and emerged as one of the AL's top starters in 2007, one season after he went 1-10. His signing gives the Indians protection in case they are unable to re-sign C.C. Sabathia, the defending Cy Young Award winner, who is eligible for free agency following this season. The Indians announced a 3 p.m. press conference at Progressive Field with "exciting news about a member of the Indians pitching staff (NOT C.C. Sabathia)." Sabathia rejected a preliminary offer from the Indians, and during spring training he suspended negotiations with the Indians until after the season. There's no guarantee he'll be back, and if he's not, Carmona will ascend into the No. 1 role. Carmona joins a core group of young players -- along with Grady Sizemore, Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez -- who have signed long-term deals with the Indians. The right-hander, whose signature sinker is as good as any in the majors, pitched 215 innings last season. He and Sabathia were the first Cleveland teammates to win at least 19 games since Bob Lemon, Herb Score and Early Wynn did it in 1956. Carmona, who finished second in the AL in ERA, began the '07 season with a loss to Chicago, extending his losing streak to 11 straight games. He finally snapped it by beating Minnesota's Johan Santana, but was optioned to the minor leagues when Cliff Lee came off the disabled list. But before he reported to Triple-A Buffalo, Carmona was back when right-hander Jake Westbrook went down with an injury. He pitched his first complete game shutout in May, again beating Santana, a two-time Cy Young winner. Carmona eventually won seven straight decisions, and then went 9-4 with a major league best 2.26 ERA in the second half. The Dominican Republic native made a memorable debut in the postseason. Matched up with Andy Pettitte, he allowed the New York Yankees just three hits and no earned runs in nine innings, pitching the final two as tiny insects swarmed the infield at then-Jacobs Field. Carmona's amazing ride finally ended in the ALCS, when he was roughed up in two starts by the Boston Red Sox, who rallied from a 3-1 deficit to win the series. |
| QUOTE |
| CLEVELAND (AP) — Fausto Carmona, a surprising 19-game winner last season, agreed to terms of a $15 million, four-year contract with the Indians on Thursday, a deal that would be worth at least $43 million if Cleveland exercised three club options. A person familiar with the negotiations says Carmona's deal will be announced later in the day. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the contract has not been finalized. Carmona gets a $750,000 signing bonus and salaries of $500,000 this year, $2.75 million in 2009, $4.9 million in 2010 and $6.1 million in 2011. Cleveland has options for $7 million in 2012, $9 million in 2013 and $14 million in 2014. The price of the first option could escalate by $1 million and the price on the other two by $2 million each. |
| QUOTE (KeepTheFaith @ Apr 10 2008, 07:03 PM) |
| Carmona > your team Bloss. |
| QUOTE (KeepTheFaith @ Apr 10 2008, 07:03 PM) |
| Carmona > your team Bloss. |
| QUOTE (TheHugeUnit @ Apr 11 2008, 10:29 AM) |
| I'd take Lirano over Carmona if he can come back healthy. Its a great deal for the Indians. I just hope the Nationals end up signing CC this offseason. |
| QUOTE (Tribe No 1 Fan @ Apr 12 2008, 01:21 PM) | ||
Why the Nats? |
| QUOTE (Crzy4cleveland @ Apr 13 2008, 02:26 PM) |
| Fausto is a great pitcher, That bad season you may be talking about was when we were testing him as a closer. Obviously that didnt work out. And accually he didnt suck that whole season, he was great up until trying him as a closer |
| QUOTE (Crzy4cleveland @ Apr 13 2008, 02:30 PM) |
| thankyou. I have accually been haveing problems getting to the site. Googled it and found out its .net. It wasnt always like that was it? |