The Indians signed right handed relief pitcher Rafael Betancourt to a one year, $840,000 deal yesterday. This will mean the team can avoid arbitration with Betancourt, who had another solid season out of the bullpen for the Indians. Betancourt doesn’t walk many batters, and while his strikeout rate was down last year, for less then $1 million, you take what you can. I think Betancourt is a bargain at this price.
The Indians also signed outfielder Jason Michaels to a two year deal worth $4.25 million. Michaels didn’t hit nearly as well as he did in 2005, but for the first time in his career he came close to touching 500 at bats. He makes for a good platoon player against left handed pitching although he struggled in the field last year (-8 fielding runs above average) at least compared to 2005 (14 fielding runs above average).
