The Arizona Diamondbacks agreed to a contract with free agent starting pitcher Bronson Arroyo on Friday, according to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports. The two-year deal will pay Arroyo $9.5 million in both 2014 and 2015 with an $11 million option for 2016, reports Buster Olney of ESPN. Including the $4.5 million buyout on the option, the pact guarantees Arroyo at least $23.5 million.
Bronson Arroyo signs 2-year deal with Diamondbacks
The right-hander spent the last eight seasons with the Cincinnati Reds.
Joe Sargent
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Arroyo will help stabilize an Arizona rotation that has lost Trevor Bauer, Ian Kennedy and Tyler Skaggs to trades over the last 14 months. The current group of starters includes Patrick Corbin, Wade Miley, Trevor Cahill, Brandon McCarthy and Randall Delgado, but Corbin and Miley were the only two of those five to throw more than 150 innings last year or post ERA's that were league-average or better. The rotation ranked 19th in baseball in 2013 with a 4.13 ERA.
Given that landscape, Arroyo, who turns 37 later in February, is a great fit for the Diamondbacks given his durability and consistency. He has thrown at least 199 innings in each of the last nine seasons, which will help a staff short on workhorses, and he has posted at least a league-average ERA in seven of those nine seasons, suggesting that he will provide solid value while eating those innings. In 2013, Arroyo made 32 starts for the Cincinnati Reds and went 14-12 with a 3.79 ERA in 202 innings.
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