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Shortly after the Cleveland Indians decided to exercise Ubaldo Jimenez's $8 million club option for 2014, the right-hander voided the option and is now a free agent, according to The Cleveland Plain Dealer's Paul Hoynes.
Jimenez, 30, has long been expected to void his option and become a free agent for the first time in his major league career.
The Indians will have interest in re-signing him this winter, and MLB.com's Jordan Bastian reports that the team will "almost certainly" extend a qualifying offer of a one-year, $14.1 million deal to Jimenez in the next few days.
The team is reportedly wary of giving the starter a long-term deal this winter, but remain very interested in keeping him on a short-term contract.
In 32 starts on the season, Jimenez pitched to a 13-9 record with a 3.30 ERA, 9.6 K/9, and 3.9 BB/9 in 182.2 innings of work. Along with Matt Garza, Ervin Santana and Hiroki Kuroda, Jimenez is slated to be of the top free agent arms availble this offseason, and it is expected that he will draw significant interest from teams looking to add him on a three or four-year deal. For his career, the 2010 All-Star is 82-75 with a 3.92 ERA, 8.3 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9 in 212 games (211 starts).
In addition to Jimenez, the Indians are also slated to lose starter Scott Kazmir to free agency this winter. They are expected to pursue Kazmir on a short-term deal, but will likely not extend him a qualifying offer.