The Phillies have avoided arbitration with southpaw reliever Antonio Bastardo, the club announced. Bastardo will receive $2MM for 2014, and his contract includes incentives.
As MLBTR's Arbitration Tracker shows, Bastardo's salary lands under the midpoint between the two sides' submission amounts. At $2MM, Bastardo's salary is an exact match to the projection of MLBTR's Matt Swartz.
The 28-year-old Bastardo figures to play an important role in the Philadelphia pen next year. He missed the end of 2013 after taking a 50-game PED ban, but had been excellent to that point with a 2.32 ERA in 42 2/3 innings. Over his career, Bastardo has been effective against both lefties (.616 OPS against) and righties (.660).
