CLEVELAND -- The Indians began chipping away at their arbitration cases on Friday night, signing veteran reliever Dan Otero and outfielder Abraham Almonte to one-year contracts.
Cleveland's deals with Otero ($1.3 million) and Almonte helped trim the team's list of arbitration candidates to five players. Prior to Friday's 8 p.m. ET deadline, the Indians tendered 2018 contracts to that group, which includes closer Cody Allen, starters Trevor Bauer and Danny Salazar, reliever Zach McAllister and outfielder Lonnie Chisenhall. Almonte's salary was not immediately known.