Matt Albers makes the throw

Matt Albers and Indians reportedly can't agree on the price for a one-year deal.

(H. Rumph Jr./Associated Press)

CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Indians could be on the verge of losing another pitcher from their bullpen.

Several teams have asked about free agent right-hander Matt Albers and at least one has reportedly offered him a two-year deal. One of the teams interested in Albers is believed to be an AL Central rival of the Indians, perhaps Detroit or Chicago.

The Indians and Albers have talked mostly about a one-year deal, but have been unable to agree upon a price. Albers made $1.75 million last season.

The Tribe is on a tight budget this offseason after spending much of the incoming TV money for 2014 last winter by signing free agents Nick Swisher for four years and $56 million and Michael Bourn for four years and $48 million.

The Indians are down four relievers from a bullpen that went 33-16 with 38 saves and a 3.62 ERA last season. Closer Chris Perez was released on Oct. 31. Joe Smith signed a three-year $15.75 million deal with the Angels, while Albers and left-hander Rich Hill are free agents.

They also lost free-agent starter Scott Kazmir, who signed a two-year $22 million deal with Oakland earlier in the week.

Last season AL Central rivals Kansas City and Minnesota had better bullpens than the Indians, who won more games and qualified for the postseason for the first time since 2007. The Royals had the best ERA in the league at 2.55, while the Twins ranked fifth at 3.50.

The White Sox (4.00) and the division champion Tigers (4.01) did not fare as well as the Tribe.

The Indians acquired Albers, Bryan Shaw and Trevor Bauer from Arizona last December in a three-team deal with the Reds. Shaw is in line to be the Indians top set-up man or closer in 2014, while Bauer could compete for the fifth spot in the rotation if he can solve his delivery problems.

Albers, 30, went 3-1 with a 3.14 ERA in 56 appearances for the Indians. He struck out 35, walked 23 and allowed 22 earned runs in 63 innings. His slash line was .242/.309/.312 –- opposing batting average, slugging percentage and on base percentage.

Early in the season he was used in blow-out situations when manager Terry Francona needed innings. He pitched two or more innings in 10 games. Over his last 22 appearances, with the Indians in a stretch run that would earn them a wild card berth, Albers posted a 1.99 ERA. After getting thumped for a 6.39 ERA in August, Albers had a 0.82 ERA in September when the Indians went 21-6.

As to why Albers hasn’t taken the rumored two-year offer, one school of thought is that he’d like to return to Cleveland on a one-year deal, win one of the late-inning openings in the pen to improve his market value for 2015, but so far the money hasn’t been right.

Should the Indians go 0-for-4 in keeping Smith, Albers, Hill and Perez, whom they cannot re-sign until May 15, here are some of the candidates who could replace them.

-Closer: If the Indians don't bring in a closer from outside, and that probably won't happen, Shaw, Cody Allen, Vinnie Pestano and Matt Capps would be the leading candidates to replace Perez, who saved 25 games despite a season marred by injury and poor performance.

Allen and Shaw would probably get first crack at the job because Pestano struggled much of last season with right elbow problems and Capps, 30, underwent right shoulder surgery. Capps has 138 career saves, including 14 in 2012 for the Twins.

-Set up: Whether it was the seventh or eighth inning, Smith handled the job well. Whoever doesn't win the closer's job among Allen, Shaw, Pestano and Capps would probably be in line for the seventh and eighth inning set-up role.

Hard-throwing Carlos Carrasco and Blake Wood are possibilities as well. Carrasco is expected to go to camp competing for a spot in the rotation.

-Right-handed utility reliever: Albers soaked up a lot of ugly innings in this role. Josh Tomlin, Chen-Chang Lee and rookies Bryan Price and Austin Adams could replace him. Frank Herrmann is still recovering from Tommy John surgery on his right elbow and it's unknown how competitive he'll be.

Tomlin, like Carrasco, is expected to go to camp and compete for a spot in the rotation.

-Left-handed specialist: Hill had an up-and-down season as the Tribe's left-on-left reliever. If he doesn't return, Marc Rzepczynski, a deadline acquisition in July, did a great job against lefties.

Other lefties who could get a look include Nick Hagadone, Scott Barnes, Colt Hynes and Mike Zagurski. Hynes and Zagurski are spring-training invitees.

It’s clear the Indians want Hagadone to have a bigger role in the pen. Righties hit .231 (12-for-52) and lefties .211 (12-for-57) against him last season, but he walked too many batters and needs to throw better strikes.

The opposition hit just .220 against him, but he allowed a slugging percentage of .367 and an on base percentage of .344.