By mid-afternoon, only two Indians were on a path to have their salaries decided by an arbitrator: shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera and reliever Rafael Perez.
Starter Justin Masterson, closer Chris Perez, right-fielder Shin-Soo Choo, third baseman Jack Hannahan and reliever Joe Smith signed one-year deals to avoid the next step in the arbitraion process, exchanging salary figures with the club.
Choo received a raise from $3.975 million in 2011 to $4.9 million for 2012. His season was marred by a DUI conviction, and he missed a large chunk of games with an injyury. Masterson received the biggest salary boost, from $468,000 to $3.825 million after moving from deep in the rotation to become the No. 1 starter.
Chris Perez negotiated a salary boost from $2.225 million to $4.5 million; Smith got a raise from $870,000 to $1.75 million, and Hannahan boosted his salary from $500,000 to $1.135 million.
