"Ninety percent of the major league players eligible for salary arbitration settle before going to a hearing. The Indians have helped pad that impressive statistic by avoiding the process since 1991.

Greg Swindell and Jerry Browne went the distance against the Indians that year with Swindell winning and Browne losing. Twenty-one years later, two other Indians, shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera and left-hander Rafael Perez, are following the same path. Arbitration hearings begin Wednesday in St. Petersburg, Fla. and run through Feb. 20. Cabrera and Perez each have hearing dates scheduled, but they have not been made public.

"We can negotiate right up until the time of the hearing," said Indians assistant general manager Mike Chernoff. "Both parties are clearly trying to get things done. If not, there is a mechanism in place to get it done." "