Not to sound like a know-it-all, but this explanation is only partially right - assuming that this has not changed in the new CBA. The hit that is spread out over the two years depends on the remaining length of the contract. Only one year's value is part of the current year hit, while the remainder is accelerated into the next season.
I have found some numbers on Colon so let me try to figure it out.......
His contract was signed in 2011, and was a 5 year, $29M contract, but only a $6M SB ($1.2M per year). Now you add this season's redo, which gave him $3.8M more in SB, and he took only $700K as salary. So that adds $950K per year since that is only a 4 year SB.
Next season's cap hit will be $1.2M + $950K SB, and a $5.5M salary, for a grand total of $7.65M.
Should we cut him prior to June 1, the cap hit would be $3.6M (3 of 5 yr remaining SB from original contract) + $2.85M (3 of 4 yr remaining from last year's deal) = $6.45M
Should we cut him after June 1, the hit will be $2.15M for 2013 + $4.3M for the expected much higher cap of 2014.
Note that my numbers were just pulled from rotoworld, and do not include any workout or roster bonuses that may be included in the contract.
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