Vizcaino, Krol get Braves deals

The Braves avoided arbitration by agreeing to one-year deals with relief pitchers Arodys Vizcaino and Ian Krol on Friday. Vizcaino received $1.55 million, while Krol settled for $900,000. The 26-year-old Vizcaino was Atlanta’s closer over the first half of 2016, but injuries limited the hardthrowing right-hander to just five appearances after the All-Star break. He finished 1-4 with 10 saves and a 4.42 ERA.

The Braves avoided arbitration hearings for the 15th time in 16 years after agreeing to terms Friday on oneyear contracts with relievers Arodys Vizcaino and lefthander Ian Krol.

Vizcaino gets $1.55 million and Krol $900,000, each slightly below arbitration projections by MLBTradeRumors.com.

They were the only remaining unsigned arbitration-eligible Braves, and Vizcaino and Krol agreed to terms before a 1 p.m. deadline for teams to sign such players or swap salary-arbitration figures in preparation for potential arbitration hearings in February.

Former Braves pitcher Mike Minor won an arbitration hearing before the 2015 season, the only player who has gone to an arbitration hearing with the team since John Rocker in 2001.

It was the first year of arbitration eligibility for Krol, who made just over the major league minimum ($507,500) in 2016, and the second arbitration year for Vizcaino, who qualified as a “Super Two” arbitration player in 2016 and had an $897,500 salary.

The Braves got Krol and minor league lefty Gabe Speier from the Tigers in a November 2015 trade for Cameron Maybin, and Speier was subsequently traded to Arizona with Shelby Miller in the December 2015 blockbuster that brought Ender Inciarte, Dansby Swanson and Aaron Blair to Atlanta.

Vizcaino is in his second stint with the Braves, who got him from the Yankees in a December 2009 trade, then traded him to the Cubs in 2012 when Vizcaino was recovering from Tommy John elbow surgery. They re-acquired him from Chicago in a November 2014 trade that sent Tommy La Stella to the Cubs.