Gerut Avoids Arby

While Brewers eligible for arbitration get ready to submit their demands tomorrow, there’s one that won’t have to. Outfielder Jody Gerut has avoided arbitration, signing a one-year deal (confirmation tweets from McCalvy and Haudricourt). Gerut made $1,775,000 last season, hitting .236/.299/.373 in 177 plate appearances for the Brewers after being acquired via trade for Tony Gwynn. Gerut hit a bit better against righties, putting up a .245/.309/.395 line against them. While the numbers aren’t impressive, he did manage to finish the year strong after a slow start to his stint in Milwaukee. He figures to be the 4th outfielder this season, due to his ability to play every outfield position. As of now, his 2010 salary hasn’t been announced. Gerut’s signing leaves six arbitration eligible players, and it’s good to see the Brewers take care of one of their “easy” cases early. I suspect it will be harder reaching deals with the likes of Corey Hart and Dave Bush, who have performed well in the past but didn’t live up to their salary last season (but will still likely be looking for raises). The Gerut signing keeps Doug Melvin’s streak of avoiding arbitration alive — since taking over as the team’s General Manager, he has never had to go to all the way to an arbitration hearing to decide a player’s salary. Update: McCalvy reports that the contract is for $2 million (via Twitter). In my “Guessing the Arby Outcomes” post a couple days ago, my guess was for $2.2 million, so I was over by a couple hundred thousand. The $2 million figure for 2010 means he’s getting a $225,000 raise.

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