The Red Sox signed both Jacoby Ellsbury and Mike Aviles to one year deals avoiding arbitration. There are 4 arbitration eligible players left that have not signed deals: Alfredo Aceves, Andrew Bailey, Daniel Bard and David Ortiz. The Sox have not gone to an arbitration hearing since 2002 and I imagine they will work out deals before any of those players see an arbitration hearing.
This is Ellsbury’s second year of being arbitration eligible. He made $2.4 million last year and as expected got quite a bump in salary. Ellsbury will be making $8.05 million for 2012. Ellsbury is coming off an All Star season where he finished second in the AL MVP race. Cherington said that only a 1 yr deal with Ells was discussed, not any talk of a multi-year deal. Mike Aviles’ deal for 2012 is for $1.2 million.
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