Indians increase Corey Kluber’s salary for 2015

Under contract for the next few seasons, the Cleveland Indians could have let Corey Kluber go to work for pennies on the dollar. Fresh off of a Cy Young award-winning campaign, however, the Tribe agreed to a new salary for the 2015 season that will pay the ace starter what is assumed to be a substantial increase off of the $514,000 he made a year ago.

Kluber posted a 2.44 ERA with a 269 strikeouts in 235-plus innings in 2014, vaulting himself from a middle-of-the-rotation innings eater to an all-out stud who was nearly unhittable in the second half of the season. He joined Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez and Randy Johnson as the only pitchers since 1987 to record at least 18 wins, an ERA under 2.50 and 260 strikeouts, narrowly edging out Seattle’s Felix Hernandez for the AL Cy Young.

Kluber is set to hit arbitration next season. Monetary terms of this new contract have not been disclosed as of yet, but in late January, team president Mark Shapiro indicated that the Indians would be willing to sign Kluber to a long-term deal. The deal covers only the 2015 season, but the team and Kluber’s representatives could still negotiate a multiyear deal as he approaches his arbitration seasons next winter.

[Related: Refusing to complain about a Corey Kluber extension]