Players Avoiding Arbitration: Thursday

Here are the day’s lower-value arbitration deals, with all projections coming via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz:

• The Padres and southpaw Drew Pomeranz have avoided arb by agreeing to a one-year, $1.35MM deal, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. That’s a near-match with Swartz’s projection of $1.3MM. Acquired in an offseason trade with the A’s, Pomeranz will slot into the San Diego ’pen this season and look to build on last season’s 86 innings of 3.66 ERA, during which he averaged 8.6 K.9 and 3.2 BB/9 to complement a 42.2 percent ground-ball rate.
• Fernando Salas and the Angels are in agreement on a one-year, $2.4MM deal, thereby avoiding a hearing, per Rosenthal. The 30-year-old Salas, who will be a free agent next winter, posted a 4.24 ERA in 63 2/3 innings this past season but had more encouraging peripherals; Salas averaged 10.5 K/9 against 1.7 BB/9 with a 35.1 percent ground-ball rate, prompting FIP (3.15) xFIP (3.23) and SIERA (2.65) to forecast markedly better results.
• Right-hander Jeanmar Gomez and the Phillies have avoided arb with a one-year, $1.4MM agreement, Rosenthal tweets. The soon-to-be 28-year-old posted a strong 3.01 ERA with 6.0 K/9 against 2.1 BB/9 and also recorded a sound 48.8 percent ground-ball rate in 74 1/3 innings of relief across 65 appearances. He’ll again provide some valuable innings for the rebuilding Phillies.

Earlier Updates

• Second baseman Brett Lawrie and the White Sox have avoided arbitration by agreeing to terms on a $4.125MM salary for the 2016 season, tweets Jon Heyman. Lawrie came over from Oakland in a trade this offseason and will look to follow up a .260/.299/.407 batting line with improved results in one of the American League’s most hitter-friendly venues. He cleared MLBTR’s $3.9MM projection by a bit more than five percent.
• Twins left-hander Tommy Milone has agreed to terms at $4.5MM for the upcoming season, tweets Heyman. Another former member of the Green & Gold, Milone will look to lock down a spot Minnesota’s rotation after a solid campaign in which he delivered a 3.92 ERA, 6.4 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 in 128 2/3 innings across 23 starts. Milone’s $4.5MM salary is an exact match with MLBTR’s projection.
• Heyman also tweets that the Rays and outfielder Desmond Jennings are in agreement on a $3.3MM salary, meaning he cleared Swartz’s $3.1MM projection by a little more than six percent. Jennings had been projected to earn the same salary in 2016 after only totaling 108 plate appearances last year due to knee injuries, so he did well to secure a raise of some sort. He’ll hope for a full, healthy season in 2016 as he gears up for his final trip through arbitration next winter.
• Derek Norris and the Padres are in agreement on a $2.925MM salary for the 2016 campaign, Heyman reports (Twitter link). He’ll fall shy of his $3.4MM projection on the heels of a .250/.305/.404 batting line and a career-best 14 home runs in his first season with the Padres. Norris will be arb-eligible twice more before free agency following the 2018 season.
• The Marlins and right-hander Bryan Morris will avoid arbitration with a $1.35MM salary for the 2016 campaign, per Heyman. Morris will top MLBTR’s $1.35MM projection by a fair margin (percentage-wise). He wrapped up a solid 2015 season with a 3.14 ERA, 6.7 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 63 innings of relief.
• Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet reports that Danny Valencia has avoided arbitration with the Athletics by settling on a one-year, $3.15MM salary (Twitter link). He’ll fall a bit shy of his $3.4MM projection but still earn a sizable raise over the $1.675MM that he was awarded when topping Toronto in an arbitration hearing last winter (Oakland acquired him via waivers this past summer). Valencia’s raise comes on the strength of an outstanding .290/.345/.519 batting line and a career-high 18 homers between the two teams.
• Mariners center fielder Leonys Martin has avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year deal worth $4.15MM, tweets Heyman. Swartz’s model pegged him to repeat his $3.75MM salary on the heels of a poor 2015 campaign, though Martin’s playing time netted him a slight bump with his new team.
• Rosenthal tweets that the Indians and Bryan Shaw have settled on a one-year, $2.75MM deal to avoid arbitration. Shaw, 28, has been one of Cleveland’s top setup men over the past two seasons, and he posted a 2.95 ERA with 7.6 K/9 against 2.7 BB/9 in 64 innings this past season. He’ll take home just a bit less than MLBTR’s projection of $2.8MM.
• The Orioles and right-hander Brad Brach are in agreement on a one-year, $1.25MM deal, also according to Rosenthal (on Twitter). That comes in slightly above MLBTR’s projection of $1.1MM for the right-hander, who logged a 2.72 ERA in 79 1/3 innings for Baltimore this past season.
• Pirates left-hander Jeff Locke has settled at $3.025MM for the 2016 season, tweets Rosenthal. Locke tied a career-high with 30 starts in 2015, though the 4.49 ERA he recorded in last years’ 168 1/3 innings was a notable step down from the 3.69 mark he posted from 2013-14. He’ll come in about $400K shy of his $3.5MM projection.
• The Tigers and Andrew Romine have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year deal worth $900K, reports Heyman (on Twitter). That figure clears Swartz’s projection by $200K. Romine, who can earn more via playing time incentives (per MLB.com’s Jason Beck, on Twitter), will split utility infield duties with free-agent pickup Mike Aviles this season. The 30-year-old batted .255/.307/.315 in 203 plate appearances last year.
• MLB.com’s Mark Bowman reports (via Twitter) that the Braves have avoided arb with righty Chris Withrow by agreeing to a one-year deal worth $610K — clearing Swartz’s projection by $10K. With two years, 132 days of service time, Withrow narrowly qualified as a Super Two player, meaning he’ll be eligible for arbitration four times. The former first-rounder missed the 2015 season as he recovered from Tommy John surgery and found himself traded from L.A. to Atlanta over the course of the year as well.
• Rangers infielder Jurickson Profar will receive a $605K salary for his Super Two season, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports tweets. Though he only projected at league minimum, after last appearing in the majors in 2013, the former top overall prospect in baseball got a nice bump after working hard through serious shoulder injuries. It remains to be seen how he’ll do upon moving back into the field, though Profar was able to make a productive return at the plate towards the end of 2015.
• Outfielder Scott Van Slyke has settled at a $1.225MM figure with the Dodgers, Heyman reports on Twitter. That’s just a shade above his $1.2MM projection. The 29-year-old has emerged as a quality fourth outfielder, though he took a step back offensively last season while dealing with some injuries. All said, he owns a .253/.337/.442 batting line in 708 career plate appearances.
• The White Sox have agreed to a $810K deal with lefty Dan Jennings, Heyman also tweets. He had projected at $700K in his Super Two season. Jennings, 28, has compiled a 2.99 ERA in 156 1/3 innings over parts of the last four seasons between the Marlins and White Sox. He’s struck out 7.5 and walked 3.9 batters per nine in that span.