The Orioles settled with right-hander Kevin Gausman on a $3.45 million contract for 2017, according to an industry source, allowing the club to avoid salary arbitration with one of its brightest young stars.
Gausman, who is in his first year of arbitration, was set for a hearing this week after filing for a $3.55 million. The team countered with a $3.15 million salary, and at the time, the expectation was that they’d go to trial with every player an agreement wasn’t reached with.
However, last week, the team offered a midpoint settlement for catcher Caleb Joseph ahead of his hearing. The two sides couldn’t agree on a deal, and Joseph lost his arbitration case.
According to Fox Sports, which first reported the agreement, the contract has built-in bonuses of $50,000 available if Gausman reaches 30 and 33 starts in 2017, respectively.
Last season, he started a career-high 30 games while going 9-12 with a 3.61 ERA in 179 2/3 innings. The Orioles are counting on a strong full season from Gausman as one of the keys to improving a rotation that returns all the same pieces from a year ago.
Orioles pitching coach Roger McDowell talks about what is important in coaching and the impact Dave Wallace and other coaches and players have had on his coaching career. (Eduardo A. Encina, Baltimore Sun video)
Orioles pitching coach Roger McDowell talks about what is important in coaching and the impact Dave Wallace and other coaches and players have had on his coaching career. (Eduardo A. Encina, Baltimore Sun video)
The fact that Matt Wieters hasn’t found a home as February arrives is another example that teams seem to value young, cost-controlled talent over veteran free agents.
The fact that Matt Wieters hasn’t found a home as February arrives is another example that teams seem to value young, cost-controlled talent over veteran free agents.
The agreement allows him to report to spring training next weekend having avoided what he thought would be a “weird” situation when he spoke on his looming hearing at FanFest last weekend.
The remaining case on the team’s arbitration docket is for reliever Brad Brach, who filed for a $3.05 million salary against the team’s $2.525 million offer.
jmeoli@baltsun.com
twitter.com/JonMeoli
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
