Cleveland Indians: Is closer Cody Allen contract extension worthy?

A key piece to the Cleveland Indians’ bullpen needs a new contract. Should they give out another extension?

Say what you will about the sometimes uncomfortable ninth innings and the random base hits he surrenders, but Cody Allen is a legit shut down closer. The Cleveland Indians have locked up numerous young contributors to long term extensions to keep them in Cleveland.

With Allen eligible for arbitration next year and free agency in 2019, it might be time to explore the possibility of an extension for Allen.

The 2017 season is already off to a good start for Allen. According to baseball-reference.com, prior to today’s game, Allen has posted a 0.75 ERA with 23 strikeouts over 12 innings en route to being named the AL April Reliever of the Month.

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In fact, he’s only given up one run all year and is a perfect eight for eight in save opportunities. Don’t forget that he did not give up a single run all postseason in 2016, and has back to back 30 save seasons already under his belt at the age of 28.

Allen’s career numbers are also demonstrative of a positive track record. A 2.55 career ERA, 100 career saves (the 100th earned on Saturday), and a 3.39 K/BB ratio shows Allen has been good even since he become a full time player in Cleveland.

He’s also been durable, appearing in no fewer than 67 games (2016) and as many as 77 (2013) without any serious injuries. Go through his stat lines and you will see very little fluctuation between the amount of hits, strikeouts, walks, innings, and WHIP in Allen’s career. That kind of consistency is incredibly valuable in a closer.

There’s also an economic factor to all of this. The closer market this past offseason went completely nutty bananas. Aroldis Chapman signed a 5 year, $86 million deal with the New York Yankees. Mark Melancon‘s new deal with the San Francisco Giants was for 4 years and $62 million, while Kenley Jansen returned to the Dodgers on a 5 year, $80 million pact.

For the 2017 season, Allen is earning $7.35 million. For those free agent deals above, that figure could balloon if Allen is left to scout out a new deal on the open market in 2019. The Indians cannot afford the type of annual value represented in the deals above for a closer.

Allen is every bit as valuable as Chapman, without the off field baggage. He’s arguably better than Melancon right now and is four years younger. Jansen is the most similar player, but is he really worth more than double the price of Allen?

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Allen is a key piece to the Tribe’s championship window. In addition, he’s the closer on the back-end of the best bullpen group in the AL. If the Tribe wants to keep that window open longer, they’ll need to seriously take a look at locking him up for the long haul.

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