May 07, 2014

From the "There's no pleasing anyone!" file:

May 3rd: Cleveland Indians purchase the contract of catcher George Kottaras from their AAA affiliate, adding him to their 25-man and 40 man-roster.
May 4th: George Kottaras goes 2-for-2, with 2HR (and a walk).
May 5th: George Kottaras sits on the bench.
May 6th: Cleveland Indians designate catcher George Kottaras for assignment, dropping him from their 25-man and 40-man roster.

That's gotta be a pretty low feeling, having an almost perfect game and STILL getting cut.
Granted, he must have known he was only a temporary replacement until Yan Gomes returned from his 3-game paternity leave, but still...

posted by grum@work at 11:05 AM on May 07, 2014

Do it mean he's immediately on more money, as he's now officially a big leaguer? Does that mean he got more money for four days and now doesn't?

I'll defer to just about anyone else on this, but Kotteras has major league service time dating back to 2008 (when the Red Sox traded David Wells to get him, finally divorcing themselves from Doug Mirabelli after the "Oh shit, can anyone else catch Tim Wakefield" debacle), so he would at least have a dual contract that would pay him the major league minimum (or maybe the veteran's minimum) for the days he was in the majors. He may also have a clause where the Indians have to release him if any other team is willing to add him to their major league roster and keep him on it for a certain number of days.

posted by yerfatma at 12:54 PM on May 07, 2014

Kottaras' contract (according to BBRef) is $1,075,000 for this season. Now, I don't know if that's the deal that the Indians signed him to after he was cut by the Cubs in spring training, but that's what the Cubs would have paid him if he stayed on the 40-man roster at the start of the season.

Usually, when a player gets cut at that point (March 26), the team is off the hook for a portion of the deal. He was a "Super-2" player, meaning he hasn't gotten 3 full years of service time when 2014 season started.

He doesn't become eligible for arbitration until 2015 (and free agency until 2016).

Based on all this information, he's probably making somewhere between the league minimum ($500,000) and the $1,075,000 he was eligible for 2014.

My guess is that he's going back to the Indians' minor league system to wait for his next call up. He might also get snatched by another team as he goes through the 10-day waiver period after being designated for assignment.

posted by grum@work at 08:03 PM on May 07, 2014

I believe he'd be paid the pro-rated MLB minimum for the number of days he was on either the 25- or 40-man rosters.

posted by grum@work at 11:44 PM on May 07, 2014