CLEVELAND -- The Indians have minimal needs this offseason, and, fittingly, they see minimal help available in the free-agent market.
"This year's free-agent market is not very good," general manager Mark Shapiro said. "And free agency, by nature, is not very efficient."
As the GM of a mid-market club, Shapiro doesn't always view the free-agency game as money well spent.
Besides, he'd rather save up some cash for the real purchase he'd like to make.
Don't expect the Indians to be major players in free agency this year, but do expect them to make a play for a guy who is eligible for free agency after the 2008 season.
Tribe ace left-hander C.C. Sabathia, who just might be named the American League Cy Young Award winner next week, will be in the AL Central champion Indians' sights this offseason. The Indians hope to lock up Sabathia with another long-term contract extension before they report to Spring Training in Winter Haven, Fla.
"My hope and expectation would be that it's not an issue when we get to Spring Training," Shapiro said. "I don't believe in black and whites. But it is something we'd like to address, one way or another, prior to getting to Spring Training."
Ordinarily, the Indians would wait to have such discussions until the spring.
But pardon them if they're a little eager to get this thing done.
Sabathia, a first-round Draft pick of the Indians in 1998, has been at or near the forefront of the club's rotation virtually from the time he made his big league debut in 2001. He leads all active Major League pitchers under the age of 28 in career wins (100) and strikeouts (1,142) and ranks second in innings pitched (1,406 1/3).
The Indians attempted to work out an extension with Sabathia last spring, but the two sides decided he was too far removed from free-agent eligibility to get a firm read on his fair-market value.
Sabathia responded by turning in his finest season. He went 19-7 with a career-best 3.21 ERA and 209 strikeouts in a Major League-high 241 innings. And after oblique injuries sidelined him in 2005 and '06, he remained healthy, making each of his 34 starts.
Sabathia's postseason struggles this year aside, his regular-season numbers will no doubt lead to even bigger numbers, preceded by dollar signs.
And that just begs the question: Can the budget-conscious Indians really afford this guy?
"I think it's realistic," Shapiro said. "I know it's possible. It's just a question of the right alignment there."
That alignment, no doubt, would have to involve Sabathia taking another "hometown" discount to remain with the Indians, as he did when he signed a two-year, $17.75 million extension early in the 2005 season that takes him through '08.
"There has not been anyone any stronger about wanting to stay here, at any juncture," Shapiro said of Sabathia. "After our worst days and after our best days, he's been extremely consistent, extremely strong about wanting to remain a part of this team and part of this community."
But Sabathia's Cy Young-worthy '07 season and the free-agent contracts signed by the top pitchers in last season's market don't do much to aid the Indians' cause at the negotiating table.
Contracts of comparable players are always relevant matters in such discussions. Sabathia will be 28 at the end of the '08 season. The top free-agent contract handed out last year went to 28-year-old left-hander and former Cy Young winner Barry Zito, who received a seven-year, $126 million deal from the Giants that pays him about $18 million per year.
That contract, though, isn't looking very good, considering that Zito went 11-13 with a 4.53 ERA this season.
"We tend to factor in all the contracts that are out there, then internally frame our own value," Shapiro said. "That value is based on where we project our payroll is going. If it slants too far toward one player, we start to compromise our ability to build a championship team. What can be cheered as a great signing at a particular time can quickly be something that is a chain around your ankle and prevents your team from winning."
So if a deal can't be worked out, the next-most pertinent question, regarding Sabathia, is whether the Indians would consider trading him before the season.
Don't bet on it.
"My inclination is to put the best team possible on the field," Shapiro said. "It's hard for me to see a team that has its best chance to win without C.C. on it."
With Sabathia and the rest of the Indians' core players all under contract for next season, the Tribe figures to have a decent chance of reclaiming its AL Central crown.
But that's not to say Shapiro won't at least peer into the free-agent market to see if any potential help is available. The Indians are not opposed to looking into the possibility of adding a left-field bat, either through free agency or trade, and they could also stand to gain some added depth in the bullpen.
Again, though, don't expect any major free-agent splashes, where the Tribe is concerned.
"One of the greatest benefits of heading into an offseason without the need to fill definitive spots is, we can take an opportunistic view of the offseason," Shapiro said. "We'll examine a lot of things -- most of which we will not act on, but some of which we could, if it's the right fit."
Anthony Castrovince is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
