The Diamondbacks have struck a two-year deal to avoid arbitration with outfielder
A.J. Pollock, Steve Gilbert of MLB.com reports
on Twitter. He’ll receive $10.25MM in the contract, Buster Olney of ESPN adds (
Twitter link).
Pollock filed at $3.9MM, with the team countering at $3.65MM — both of which fell below his
$4.3MM projection — so there wasn’t much room for movement on his 2016 salary. But Arizona may have saved a bit of cash on next year’s bill in order to help ease a settlement on this season’s payday.
And for Pollock, he won’t have to worry about injury or a performance decline sapping his earning power for 2017. Certainly, the new deal builds in a substantial raise for the burgeoning star. He’ll be promised nearly a $6.5MM raise — assuming the filing numbers’ midpoint as a baseline for 2016 — for the added season covered in the pact.
As a 3+ service-time player, Pollock will still have one year of arb eligibility remaining after his new deal is up. A longer-term arrangement still seems plausible for the 28-year-old, who cemented himself as the D-Backs’ center fielder with an excellent 2015 campaign. If nothing else, the major raise baked into the deal suggests that the team doesn’t expect him to fall off in the coming year.