Arbitration Recap
The Mets avoided arbitration with all four of their arbitration-eligible players today, signing each to a 1-year contract.
- RHP Manny Acosta signed for $875,000. He figures to be in the Mets bullpen when Opening Day comes around.
- RHP Mike Pelfrey signed for $5.675MM, roughly the amount most experts expected he would win in arbitration. For better or worse, Pelfrey will be in the starting rotation because he can rack up innings.
- RHP Ramon Ramirez signed a 2.65MM deal. The key piece of the Angel Pagan trade will be the Mets’ seventh or eighth inning arm.
- OF Andres Torres, the other part of the Pagan deal, agrees to a $2.7MM contract. Will he be 2010 Torres or 2011 Torres? Either way, to paraphrase Casey Stengel, you need a center fielder, because without one, there would be a lot of inside-the-park home runs.
The Mets haven’t gone to arbitration with any player since Oliver Perez (*shudder*) was awarded $6.5MM in 2008. Before then, they hadn’t gone to arbitration since 1992, when David Cone was awarded $4.25MM. He was traded that season to the Blue Jays for Jeff Kent and Ryan Thompson.