Orioles avoid arbitration with Voth, signing right-hander to deal with ’24 club option
The Orioles have completed their arbitration process, and possibly their increases to their major league payroll, for this offseason.
Baltimore announced Thursday that it signed right-hander Austin Voth to a one-year deal that includes a team option for 2024. The deal is reportedly worth $1.85 million in 2023 — the midpoint of the $1.7 million the Orioles had filed at and Voth’s suggested $2 million figure — with the option valued at $2.45 million. Each of the team’s other arbitration-eligible players — outfielders Anthony Santander, Cedric Mullins and Austin Hays; infielder Jorge Mateo; and reliever Dillon Tate — agreed to deals without exchanging figures earlier this month.
Voth, 30, was in his second of what will be four years of arbitration eligibility. After he posted a 10.13 ERA in 19 relief appearances for the Washington Nationals, the Orioles claimed him on waivers and deployed him largely as a starter. With 17 of his 22 outings being starts, Voth recorded a 3.04 ERA with Baltimore. He’ll enter spring training among the many contenders to be in the Orioles’ rotation — a group that gained another member Thursday when the Orioles acquired left-hander Cole Irvin from Oakland — or serve as a long reliever.
The agreement means the Orioles still have required only one arbitration hearing under executive president and general manager Mike Elias, with a panel siding with the club to determine Santander’s 2021 salary. Elias has stated the team operates under a “file and go” policy, meaning the team will head to hearings once figures are exchanged, but Voth is now the third straight Oriole to pass the exchange deadline and agree to a deal without a hearing after first baseman Trey Mancini and lefthander John Means did the same last year.
The club option in Voth’s deal could allow the Orioles to set his 2024 salary without needing to go through the arbitration process. The associated buyout could also provide a boost to his 2023 salary if the option is declined, which would then prompt Voth to enter arbitration for a third time.
Voth’s uncertain status was the last to-be-determined portion of the Orioles’ current payroll.
Cot’s Baseball Contracts has the team’s projected opening day payroll at $64.9 million, the second lowest of the majors’ 30 teams.
The Athletic first reported the terms of Voth’s deal.