O’s avoid arbitration with trio ahead of deadline
The Orioles agreed to contract terms for the 2019 season with their three players eligible for salary arbitration — starter Dylan Bundy, closer Mychal Givens and infielder Jonathan Villar — ahead of Friday's deadline, according to an industry source.
With the agreements, the team avoids what could've been contentious salary arbitration hearings with three of their most established major league players on a team that's likely to be short on them.
Bundy, the 26-year-old former first-round draft pick, is in his first year of salary arbitration, but because he signed a major league contract when the Orioles selected him fourth overall in 2011, he was making above the minimum salary in the years since — he made $1.64 million last year, in his final year of pre-arbitration.
MLB Trade Rumors' projections had Bundy set to receive $3 million in arbitration, a figure that's perhaps depressed by the fact that he had a 5.45 ERA and allowed a major league-high 41 home runs in 2018.
Givens, the team's presumptive closer entering his age-29 season, is entering arbitration for the first time after three-plus seasons of strong relief, though his $2 million MLB Trade Rumors projection is impacted by the fact that he only started earning saves this past year.
He's also coming off a down season by his standard, with a 3.99 ERA and nine saves in 69 appearances.
Villar, 27, acquired on July 31 as part of the trade for second baseman Jonathan Schoop, performed well for the Orioles in his two months in Baltimore, batting .258 with eight home runs and 21 steals in 24 attempts.
He made $2.55 million last year, and was projected to make $4.4 million by MLB Trade Rumors in his second year of arbitration eligibility.
The relatively light arbitration slate for the Orioles comes after last year's trades that took two of their most expensive arbitration-eligible players off the payroll — right-hander Kevin Gausman and Schoop.
The Orioles also nontendered infielder Tim Beckham and catcher Caleb Joseph, leaving their projected payroll under $70 million.
MASNsports.com first reported the agreements.