Mercifully so.
Ubaldo Jimenez, loser of his last six decisions and 17 games overall, won’t pitch again this season because of a sprained ankle.
Jimenez finishes up 9-17 with a 5.55 ERA and a 143/95 K/BB ratio in 176 2/3 innings. He’s 13-21 with a 5.43 ERA in 242 innings since the Indians traded arguably their two top pitching prospects -- Drew Pomeranz and Alex White -- to the Rockies for him in mid-2011.
The Indians will have to decide this winter whether to exercise Jimenez’s $5.75 million option for 2013, to decline it and go through the arbitration process or to non-tender him. Since the option comes with a $1 million buyout, picking it up probably makes the most sense. It’s doubtful he’d come any cheaper than $4.75 million through arbitration, and even though he’s been a huge disappointment, it’d be worth it to give him one more year and see what happens. It’s not as though the Indians have a ton of young pitching busting down the door.
