Hafner likely done with Indians

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AP photo Cleveland Indians designater hitter Travis Hafner tips his cap to the crowd during a game Oct. 3, in what likely will be his final at bat with the team.

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Travis Hafner’s days with the Cleveland Indians appear to be over.

The team declined Hafner’s $13 million option on Wednesday, electing instead to pay him a $2.75 million buyout. Hafner is now a free agent and can sign with any team beginning on Saturday. The 35-year-old native of Sykeston, N.D., said late in the season that he still intends to play despite several consecutive injury-plagued seasons.

Hafner was limited to 66 games last season. He finished with 12 home runs, 34 RBIs and a .228 batting average.

Indians general manager Chris Antonetti didn’t completely slam the door on Hafner returning to the Tribe, but it’s widely expected that he will be playing elsewhere next season.

“I think, especially in Travis’ case, we’ll have to see how our roster takes shape this winter and he’ll obviously have to evaluate his alternatives,” Antonetti told the team’s website.

Hafner hit 200 of his 201 career home runs for the Indians after being traded to Cleveland from the Texas Rangers in 2002. His 200 home runs are the most by a designated hitter in Cleveland history.

“For a while he was feared as one of the best hitters in the American League,” Antonetti told the Associated Press.

Hafner, who was born in Jamestown, put up big numbers for four straight seasons, topping out with 42 homers and 117 RBIs in 2006. The Indians rewarded him with a four-year, $57 million contract, but injuries have plagued him since. He’s played in more than 100 games just once season 2007.

Hafner played American Legion baseball in Carrington and had a brief stint with the Jamestown Miller Lite Merchants. He was selected in the 36th round by Texas in the 1996 draft — the 923rd player taken overall — out of Cowley County Community College in Kansas.

Sun sports editor Dave Selvig can be reached at (701) 952-8460 or by e-mail at dselvig@jamestownsun.com

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