Baseball

No salary arbitration cases go to hearings

NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball pitched an arbitration shutout.

Reliever Darren O'Day completed a $5.8 million, two-year contract with the Baltimore Orioles on Monday, becoming the final player to settle without a hearing among the 133 who filed for arbitration Jan. 15.

This was the first year since arbitration began in 1974 that no player who filed went to a hearing. Baseball's previous record low was three hearings, set in 2005 and matched in 2009 and 2011. Arbitration was suspended in 1976 and 1977 while free agency was put in place.

The high was 35 hearings in 1986, but teams have signed more of their young stars to contracts before hearings in recent years, giving many of them multiyear deals. Owners won five of seven hearings in 2012.

O'Day gets $2.2 million this year and $3.2 million in 2014. The Orioles have a $4.25 million option for 2015 with a $400,000 buyout. The 30-year-old right-hander was 7-1 with a 2.28 ERA in 69 games last year.

Baltimore agreed to one-year deals previously with its other players in arbitration: right-handers Jason Hammel ($6.75 million) and Jim Johnson ($6.5 million), left-handers Brian Matusz ($1.6 million) and Troy Patton ($815,000), catcher Matt Wieters ($5.5 million) and first baseman Chris Davis ($3.3 million).

Related Headlines

  • Ben Zobrist, Evan Longoria

    Wieters, Davis, Jones power Orioles past Rays 7-4

    Baltimore played like a confident bunch that's left 2012 behind and is intent on proving a surprising breakthrough season wasn't a fluke. Adam Jones keyed a seventh-inning ... 

  • Jason Hammel

    Orioles rally past Twins, 9-6 in 10 innings

    Thanks to the focus of guys like Jim Johnson and the toughness of Manny Machado, the Baltimore Orioles don't play like the youngest team in their division. Machado had a ... 

  • John Farrell, John Lackey, Jon Lester

    Red Sox sellout streak ends at 820 games

    The longest home sellout streak in major pro sports history ended Wednesday night at 820 games for the Boston Red Sox. The official attendance for an 8-5 loss to the Baltimore ... 

  • Adam Greenberg

    Greenberg gets minor league deal from Orioles

    Adam Greenberg is getting a chance to resume his baseball career with the Baltimore Orioles. The 31-year-old returned to the major leagues for one at-bat in October, more than ... 

Find your future job here