Source: Manny Machado avoids arbitration with $16M deal
— -- Manny Machado agreed to a one-year, $16 million deal with the Baltimore Orioles on Friday to avoid a salary arbitration hearing in February, a source told ESPN.
Machado, 25, is a three-time All-Star with two Gold Gloves over parts of six seasons with the Orioles.?He has a .279/.329/.476 career slash line, and his 105 homers since 2015 tie him with J.D. Martinez for eighth most among big league hitters over the past three seasons.
Machado is eligible for free agency after the 2018 season and has been mentioned prominently in trade rumors, but the Orioles appear to have made little progress since telling teams they would be willing to entertain offers during the MLB winter meetings in December.
The Orioles are considering moving Machado from third base to shortstop this season, at his request.
Last year Machado earned a base salary of $11.5 million. He hit .259 with 33 homers and 95 RBIs.
The Orioles also confirmed Friday that they've struck new one-year deals with arbitration-eligible relievers Zach Britton and Brad Brach.
Britton, who is expected to miss the first half of the season after suffering a ruptured Achilles tendon while doing sprints in December, agreed to a $12 million deal. Brach signed for $5.165 million. He joins Darren O'Day and Mychal Givens as a candidate to close games for Baltimore while Britton recuperates from his injury.
In other deals, the Orioles reached one-year deals with shortstop Tim Beckham ($3.35 million) and catcher Caleb Joseph ($1.25 million).
Right-hander Kevin Gausman and second baseman Jonathan Schoop are Baltimore's only arbitration-eligible players without deals. Gausman is asking for $6,225,000 and the team is offering $5.3 million. Schoop is asking for $9 million with the Orioles offering $7.5 million.
The Associated Press contributed to this reprot.
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