Walking the Plank: Arbitration dominos

Friday, 18 January 2013 23:59

Written by Michael Sanserino

Earlier this week, arbitration-eligible players filed for arbitration. Yesterday, teams and players exchanged figures. 

The Pirates reached an agreement with first baseman Gaby Sanchez early Friday afternoon, according to Sanchez's agency. The $1.75 million deal comes with performance incentives. 

Meanwhile, CBS Sports' Jon Heyman tweeted dozens of arbitration filings, including two of the three Pirates' arbitration-eligible players. 

For Neil Walker, the Pirates filed at $3 million and Walker filed at $3.6 million. In the grand scheme of things, that's not a whole lot of distance between the two sides (that said, it would take me like a billion years just to earn that difference). 

For James McDonald, the Pirates filed at $2.65 million and McDonald filed at $3.4 million. A bit more distance between the two sides. This is interesting, since most indendent projections estimated McDonald would earn more via arbitration than Walker. Certainly McDonald's second-half struggles will end up costing him in the wallet in 2013. 

The Pirates and Garrett Jones avoided arbitration and agreed to terms on a one-year, $4.5 million contract, according to the Associated Press. Jones lost his arbitration hearing prior to last season and made $2.25 million.