Corey Kluber contract extension talks quiet

What's better than Thursday? Friday! What's better than Friday? Baseball! What's better than my N&N intros? Everything! Here's all the baseball news that's fit to print. Like, on the internet.

Indians news & notes

Kluber the top pro at Greater Cle Sports Awards | Indians.com - Corey Kluber had a season for the ages in 2014, taking home a well-deserved Cy Young award to show for it. Well, the accolades keep piling up. Klubot's latest piece of hardware is the Professional Athlete of the Year award at the Greater Cleveland Sports Awards, to no one's surprise.

Kluber pleads ignorance about extension talks | Cleveland.com - To go along with all the accolades, Kluber made a cool $514,000. Yup, that's all. Hell of a deal for the Tribe, but what about Kluber? Seems like a good time to talk contract extensions, so you have to think Kluber and his agent are doing so, right?

Not that I know of

- Klubot

Well, at least he's got this snazzy new 'do going for him:

Corey Kluber looking awfully devious after winning Cleveland Athlete of the Year award. #emotion #onceinabluemoon pic.twitter.com/MxebJDchey

— Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) January 23, 2015

Indians' 2015 salary situation nearly settled | It's Pronounced 'Lajaway' - With the arbitration cases settled, there's a pretty clear picture of what the Tribe's payroll will look like in 2015. It's about the same as it has been the last few years, and IPL's Ryan McCrystal is impressed by what the FO was able to do this offseason despite the budget constraints.

Hey Hoynsie! Should Salazar close instead of Allen | Cleveland.com - Ok. Well, at least Hoynsie gives a reasonable answer, saying it would be a waste to stick Danny Salazar in the closer's role when he's got so much potential as a starter. Stay tuned for moronic questions about Carlos Santana and Francisco Lindor, which Hoynsie again handles with reasonable aplomb.

Tidbits from around MLB

Price comfortable, 'all ears' for extension | Detroit Free Press - Our ace may be silent on the extension front, but Detroit's ace is downright efusive in comparison. David Price is due to be a free agent after the 2015 season, but when asked about the possibility of an extension, said he was "open to anything."

When will pitch clocks come to a stadium near you? | Cleveland.com - We've discussed this a bit this offseason, and the opinions seem pretty divided here. Terry Francona sees the advantages of a pitch clock, particularly over the weak measure MLB instituted in 2014. But will there aever be enough support to get it going in the majors?

Which teams need Shields the most? | Sports On Earth - You know it's the doldrums of the offseason when the biggest thing going on is a bunch of people waiting to see where James Shields lands. In the meantime, why not examine the teams where he'd make the most sense. Fangraphs did it a few days ago using an analytical argument, and SOE looks at it from a different angle.

Making the case for a Strasburg/Betts trade | Fangraphs - The Red Sox have a bunch of outfielders and need pitchers. The Nationals have a bunch of pitchers and need outfielders. Enter Mookie Betts and Stephen Strasburg. Please don't let this happen.

Twitter roundup

Looks like we can cross at least one of those teams of the list of Shields suitors:

#Dbacks out on Shields, Stewart says.

— Jack Magruder (@JackMagruder) January 22, 2015

Gomes to ATL:

Gomes has a one-year deal with Braves with a vesting option, according to source.

— Tim Brown (@TBrownYahoo) January 23, 2015

Duke, Duke, Duke, Duke of... meth?

Minor League RHP Duke von Schamann has been suspended 50-games following a 2nd positive test (drug of abuse). Effective at start of season.

— Tribeinsider (@tribeinsider) January 22, 2015

Speaking of drugs, I think Kip found the good stuff:

Driving from Chicago to Cle.. Still searching for a Rainbow Road jump that lets me skip 4 hours of this drive.. #Warioallday #maybeYoshi

— Jason Kipnis (@TheJK_Kid) January 22, 2015

And that's all she wrote!