Yankees Avoid Arbitration With 6 Players
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The Yankees have reached deals with all but one of their arbitration-eligible players.
The team announced Friday afternoon that it has agreed to terms with shortstop Didi Gregorius, outfielder Aaron Hicks, pitchers Michael Pineda, Adam Warren and Tommy Layne, and backup catcher Austin Romine.
That leaves only setup man Dellin Betances without a deal. The deadline for MLB teams to exchange arbitration figures with their eligible players was midday Friday.
Gregorius will earn $5.1 million this season, WFAN baseball insider Jon Heyman reported. The 26-year-old infielder is coming off a career season in which he hit .276 with 20 home runs and 70 RBIs. Perhaps as important, Gregorius, who made $2.425 million in 2015, has assumed more of a leadership role for the Yankees, who are in the midst of an extensive rebuilding effort.
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Acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks prior to the 2015 season, Gregorius has quietly become one of the better shortstops in the American League. His offensive production has made massive gains and he has proven to be a very good defensive counterpart to second baseman Starlin Castro up the middle for the Yankees.
Though Gregorius still needs to work on improving his on-base percentage, which was just .304 last season, the left-handed hitting shortstop hit .324 against southpaws in 2016.
Pineda's deal is worth $7.4 million, according to Heyman. He is coming off a shaky season in which he went 6-12 with a 4.82 ERA. Despite his struggles, the 27-year-old right-hander, who earned $4.3 million last year, is expected to reclaim a spot in the rotation this season.
The Yankees' agreement with Romine is for $805,000 deal, Heyman reported. In 62 games last season, he batted .242 with four homers and 26 RBIs.
It's unclear what the values of the deals for Hicks, Warren and Layne are.
