Today is an important day in baseball, as players and teams will exchange salary figures and attempt to work out agreements in an attempt to avoid arbitration.
If contracts cannot be worked out by a certain date, an arbitration hearing will commence at a later date.
The Kansas City Royals have avoided arbitration with a key member of their pitching staff.
This morning, it was announced that veteran right-hander Brad Keller and the team had agreed on a $5.775 million contract for the 2023 season.
Mark Feinsand of MLB.com was the first to report the news of Keller’s new deal with the Royals.
The Royals and Brad Keller have agreed to a $5.775 million deal for 2023 to avoid arbitration, per source.
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) January 13, 2023
The 27-year-old will be a free agent at the end of the 2023 season.
The right-hander went 6-14 with a 5.09 ERA in 2022.
For his career, Keller owns a 4.25 ERA.
Keller came to the big leagues in 2018 and has spent his entire career thus far with the Royals.
He was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the eighth round in 2013.
The right-hander’s best season with the Royals was in 2020.
That season, Keller went 5-3 and had a career-best 2.47 ERA.
The 27-year-old appeared in 35 games with the team in 2022, starting in 22 of those games.
This is likely just the first of several agreements to be reached in the coming days.
Again, if a player and a team work out a contract, then they will have avoided arbitration.
A hearing will be scheduled for those who do not reach an agreement by a certain date.
More agreements are likely to come today as figures are exchanged.
