With arbitration-eligible players and major league teams scheduled to exchange salary figures for the 2015 season on Friday, the Orioles came to agreements with several key names including catcher Matt Wieters, first baseman Chris Davis, and starting pitcher Chris Tillman.
According to an ESPN report, Wieters will make $8.3 million in 2015 after making $7.7 million last season. After being limited to just 26 games before undergoing Tommy John surgery last summer, the All-Star catcher will be entering his final year before becoming a free agent next offseason.
Davis agreed to a one-year, $12 million deal after making $10.3 million last year, according to The Sun. Entering his final season before free agency, the 2013 home run king will try to bounce back from a nightmarish campaign that included a .196 average and a 25-game suspension for Adderall use that forced him to miss the Orioles’ run to the American League Championship Series.
Per CBS Sports, Tillman will receive a substantial raise in his first arbitration-eligible year by receiving $4.315 million after making only $546,000 last season. The 26-year-old has blossomed into the Orioles ace over the last two years and went 13-6 with a 3.34 ERA in 207 1/3 innings last season.
Lefty reliever Brian Matusz settled on a $3.2 million contract with the Orioles after making $2.4 million last season, per MASN Sports.
Outfielders Alejandro De Aza and Steve Pearce, infielder Ryan Flaherty, starting pitchers Bud Norris and Miguel Gonzalez, and closer Zach Britton round out the list of arbitration-eligible players who exchanged salary figures with the Orioles on Friday. Hearings will be heard next month if the sides do not come to an agreement, but teams and players typically split the difference to avoid arbitration.
Right-handed reliever Tommy Hunter avoided arbitration earlier this week by signing a $4.65 million agreement.
In other news, free-agent outfielder Nori Aoki agreed to a one-year, $4 million deal with the San Francisco Giants on Friday. He had been linked to the Orioles as a possible short-term replacement for Nick Markakis in the outfield and at the top of the lineup with his career .353 on-base percentage, but the club never showed more than limited interest.
