Click here for background on the upcoming arbitration schedule and how MLBTR will be covering it. You can also check in on our Arbitration Tracker and look at MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz's arbitration projections. We'll use this post to keep tabs on players avoiding arbitration today:
- Josh Outman, who avoided arbitration with the Indians last night, will earn a $1.25MM salary in 2014, the Associated Press reports (via ESPN).
- The Rockies have avoided arbitration with lefty Franklin Morales, reports Thomas Harding of MLB.com (via Twitter). Morales was recently picked up from the Red Sox in exchange for Jonathan Herrera, and was projected to earn $1.8MM by Swartz. His salary comes in just below that mark at $1.7125MM, according to a tweet from the Denver Post's Troy Renck.
- Burke Badenhop has settled on a one-year deal with the Red Sox, the club announced in a press release. The right-handed reliever, who was acquired from the Brewers back in November, came with a projected $2.2MM price tag and will in fact earn $2.15MM, according to a tweet from WEEI.com's Alex Speier. Badenhop's last two seasons have been uncannily similar. In both 2012 and 2013, Bandenhop threw 62 1/3 innings, registered 42 strikeouts (6.1 K/9) against 12 walks (1.7 BB/9), and surrendered six home runs. He allowed just one less hit (62) last year than in 2012, though his ERA rose from 3.03 to 3.47 due to a drop in his strand rate.
- The Mets have reached agreement with infielder Ruben Tejada on a 2014 contract, the club announced on Twitter. He will earn a $1.1MM salary in his first year of arbitration eligibility, tweets Anthony DiComo of MLB.com, which is in line with his $1MM projection. Tejada struggled to a .202/.259/.260 mark in 227 plate appearances last year, but is still only 24 years old. He will have three more years of arb eligibility since he qualified as a Super Two player.
- The Rangers have reached agreement on a one-year deal to avoid arbitration with southpaw Neal Cotts, the club announced via press release. The deal will pay Cotts $2.2MM, tweets Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Cotts will earn $700K over Swartz's projection.
- Outfielder Michael Saunders has reached agreement with the Mariners on a deal to avoid arbitration, reports Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times (via Twitter). The 27-year-old will earn $2.3MM (plus incentives) in his first arb-eligible season, Divish tweets, which comes in just above the $2MM projection from Swartz.
Man it would be nice to see Saunders turn into even just a solid every day player, if not an All-Star. He’s showed some signs here and there, but those MLB ABs are starting to accumulate, as are those years in the age column. Hopefully he doesn’t start to panic and get all pull happy, because when he’s had success it’s been when using the whole field. Patience Condor, patience.
I know it’s sort of customary even in real life to get raises simply based on service time rather than performance, but you have to love baseball’s arbitration process. Tejada was so awful at his job that he spent a full third of the season in the minors and earned very public chastising from several of his bosses and yet his salary essentially doubles from ~$515k to $1.1MM. Must be nice. Does anyone ever not get a raise through arbitration?
Technically that wasn’t his arbitration number. It was a contract signing the mets have so that they wouldn’t have to go through arbitration. Doesn’t necessarily mean he wouldn’t have gotten the same, or slightly more/less.
I think each arbitration case is a raise. It’s funny to think about how you could make more your last year or arbitration than you would the following year in FA.
Agreed. When the likely arbitration award is vastly above market value, that is when you see players non-tendered.
Whoops! Guess I should read more closely. I imagine he’d get the same amount in arbitration like you said, though, so I guess my point stands.
Mets clearly don’t want to go thru arbitration this offseason it seems as they are just signing everybody outright right now. Still Tejada is one case I think they should have considering his terrible performance last season shouldn’t of really warranted such a high raise, but then again who knows though maybe they are trying to motivate him again though giving him this raise though.