The Reds and Todd Frazier have avoided arbitration with a two-year, $12MM deal, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (on Twitter). Frazier will receive $4.5MM in 2015 and $7.5MM in 2016, MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon tweets. Frazier is a client of CAA Sports.
Frazier had filed for $5.7MM in his first year of arbitration eligibility, with the Reds countering at $3.9MM, according to MLBTR’s Arbitration Tracker. With $4.8MM as the midpoint between those two figures, $12MM for this year and next accounts for what would have been a fairly typical arbitration-year raise for 2016, to the $7MM range. After the contract ends, Frazier will be under Reds control for one more year, and he will be eligible for arbitration after 2016.
Frazier, who will turn 29 next week, was one of the Reds’ top performers in the team’s tough 2014 season. Frazier hit .273/.336/.459, led the team with 29 homers and played in his first All-Star Game. He also received good marks for his defense at third base, posting an above-average UZR at the position for the third straight season.
With Frazier’s case now settled, the only remaining Reds player with a pending arbitration case is closer Aroldis Chapman.
