The Indians and Trevor Bauer have agreed to a one-year deal for the 2017 season, thus avoiding arbitration.
Bauer will be paid $3.55 million this season, as first reported by Jon Heyman of Today's Knuckleball and FanRag Sports.
Bauer, who turns 26 on Tuesday, opened 2016 in the bullpen but after Cody Anderson struggled and Carlos Carrasco went on the disabled list, found his way back into the starting rotation. He finished the year 12-8 with a 4.26 ERA and 168 strikeouts in 190 innings. Per FanGraphs, he had a FIP of 3.99.
That all came before the Indians' run through the postseason that put additional weight on the shoulders of starters Bauer, Corey Kluber and Josh Tomlin, as well as the bullpen.
The defining image of Bauer's 2016 season will forever be that of his right pinky, lacerated the night before the American League Championship Series against the Toronto Blue Jays, dripping blood on the mound of Game 3. It forced Bauer out of the game _ leading to sarcastic cheers from the Toronto crowd _ but ended in a 4-2 win that put the Indians up 3-0 in the series.
Bauer is one of eight arbitration-eligible players on the Indians roster _ Cody Allen, Danny Salazar, Bryan Shaw, Lonnie Chisenhall, Brandon Guyer, Zach McAllister and Dan Otero. The deadline to exchange salary figures is Friday.
