Indians reward Carmona with $15 million contract

The deal could be worth a lot more if the 24-year-old reaches certain incentives.

GATEHOUSE NEWS SERVICE

CLEVELAND — Much of Fausto Carmona’s physical activity as a teenager in a small town in the Dominican Republic consisted of running up the hills where his family grew rice — when he wasn’t stretching to pick fruit off the orange trees.

Even on that family farm, however, Carmona found some idle time . Most of that time was devoted to playing baseball with his friends or watching his favorite major league pitcher, Pedro Martinez, on TV.

After Carmona became a professional baseball player, he began saving for a new house for his parents. That home is nearly finished, but now he can afford an addition. A couple of them, actually.

The 24-year-old right-hander signed a four-year, $15-million contract with the Indians Thursday, one that could pay him up to $48 million if Cleveland exercises all three one-year club options and escalator clauses based on Cy Young Award balloting kick in.

“I’ve got a little security,” Carmona said through interpreter and first-base coach Luis Rivera. “That doesn’t mean I’m not going to work hard.”

Carmona’s work ethic was one reason the Indians decided to offer the extension despite his having spent only one full year in the big leagues. The Indians had him under control for four more years anyway, but effectively bought out two of Carmona’s free agent seasons.

“You look at what makes him special and why you bet on a guy like that for a long period of time,” general manager Mark Shapiro said. “His alignment of toughness and competitiveness is exactly what you’re looking for.”

Carmona was 19-8 with a 3.06 ERA in 2007, the second-lowest ERA in the American League. Only two AL starters allowed a lower slugging percentage (.352). He finished fourth in the Cy Young voting.

Perhaps Carmona’s short career can best be defined by two challenges he faced and passed.

A 10-day tryout as the Indians’ closer in 2006 proved nothing short of disastrous. Carmona was sent back to the minor leagues, returned as a starter, then went on to earn a spot in the starting pitching rotation of a division champion.

“In our conversations with him, never once did he show it was beating him down,” Shapiro said. “When we were worried about him, he wasn’t worried about himself.”

Carmona’s signing bonus was $750,000, according to The Associated Press. His salaries are $500,000 this year, $2.75 million in 2009, $4.9 million in 2010 and $6.1 million in 2011.

The club options are for $7 million in 2012, $9 million in 2013 and $14 million in 2014. If Carmona places highly in the Cy Young voting, his 2012 option would increase by $1 million, his 2013 options by $2 million each.