Michael Bourn and Cleveland Indians agree to four year deal – MLB News
One of the last free agents looking for a job; Michael Bourn finally managed to secure a Major League Baseball contract on Monday evening. According to a leading sports website, the outfielder has agreed to a four year $48 million contract with the Cleveland
Indians. Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal was the first to break the story on Monday night. According to him, the deal also contains the fifth year option for $12 million. As per the Major League Baseball rules, the Indians must a give up a draft pick in exchange
for the outfielder.
The 30 year old had an excellent time on the plate last season, helping the Atlanta Braves emerge victorious in several nail biting encounters. However, Bourn started to lose his form as the season progressed. Nonetheless, he was an All Star with the Braves
in 2012. While other free agents did not have to wait for too long to sign an MLB contract, Bourn was one of the most prominent names still available in the market. Indians made their move on February 11 when they contact Bourn’s agent via phone call.
New York Mets and the Chicago Cubs had also shown keen interest in Bourn after the Annual Meetings but the Indians eventually signed him on for a lucrative four year deal. Detroit Tigers and the Chicago White Sox dominated the American League Central Division
last season. It seems the Indians are looking to build an offensive lineup capable of scoring runs against the best starters in the game.
“The Indians were slipping again toward irrelevance and perhaps in all-out free fall. They'd lost at least 93 games for the third time in four seasons. So little was working for a franchise that seems to get it together just often enough that its irrelevance,
on the national landscape, is somewhat relevant”, said Tim Brown of sports.yahoo.com.
After signing Nick Swisher, Brett Myers, Mike Aviles, Drew Stubbs and Trevor Bauer to their batting lineup, the Indians made another expensive move when they agreed to a four year contract with Bourn. It will be interesting to see if the former Braves’ outfielder
can live up to the expectations in a new environment.
Tags: