On Friday afternoon, it was reported by Jon Heyman of MLB Network and Fan Rag Sports that the Yankees and Didi Gregorius settled on a $5.1M contract for 2017, avoiding arbitration. Since then, according to Heyman, the Yankees have also reached agreements with Austin Romine and Michael Pineda. Teams and players had until 1 pm ET Friday to exchange arbitration filing numbers.
Romine will earn $800K in ’17, a raise from the $556K he made last season. The 28-year-old backup catcher turned in his best season as a major leaguer last year, hitting .242/.269/.382 with four homers and 26 RBI in 62 games while playing solid defense behind the plate. Romine figures to be Gary Sanchez‘s backup this season. This was Romine’s first year of arbitration eligibility.
Pineda, who turns 28 on Jan. 18, will make $7.4M this year – up from $4.3M last year. He put up a strange season in ’16, leading the American League with 10.61 strikeouts per nine innings and ranking third among AL starters with a 27.4 percent strikeout rate while pitching to a 6-12 record and a 4.82 ERA. Pineda also surrendered a mind-boggling .406 average on batted balls in play with two outs. This is Pineda’s final year of arbitration eligibility before becoming a free agent after the 2017 season.
Update (5:40 pm ET): The Yankees have confirmed their previous agreements with Gregorius, Romine and Pineda and announced one-year deals for Aaron Hicks, Tommy Layne and Adam Warren for 2017. It appears that Dellin Betances will head to an arbitration hearing in February where a panel will determine his salary for this season.
The Yankees agreed to terms w/ Gregorius, Hicks, Layne, Pineda, Romine and Warren on 1-year, non-guaranteed contracts, avoiding arbitration
— Yankees PR Dept. (@YankeesPR) January 13, 2017
