It's arbitration day! For all of you unfamiliar with the process, MLB teams have to exchange salary figures with their arbitration-eligible players. If the two sides can't reach an agreement, the case goes to an arbitration panel, which will determine the salary for the following season.
The Houston Astros and Dallas Keuchel avoided that whole ordeal with a record-breaking figure, according to the latest rumors.
Keuchel and the Astros will bypass the arbitration hearing after agreeing to a one-year, $7.25 million contract, according to Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle. That salary is an MLB record for a first-time arbitration-eligible starting pitcher. The record was previously held by David Price and Dontrelle Willis, who took home $4.35 million in their first year.
MLBTradeRumors.com predicted Keuchel to earn $6.4 million in his first year of arbitration eligibility.
The Astros have yet to confirm the deal.
Keuchel, 28, won the American League Cy Young award in 2015 and beat out Price, who had the best season of his career. The Astros left-hander finished 20-8 with a 2.48 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 216 strikeouts in 33 starts (232 innings). He led the AL in wins, shutouts, innings pitched, batters faced, ERA+ and WHIP. He also finished fifth in the MVP voting, earned his first All-Star honors and took home his second consecutive Gold Glove award.
He then dominated the New York Yankees with a complete game shutout in the AL Wild Card Game in his postseason debut.
After struggling in his first two MLB seasons, Keuchel broke out in 2014 after posting a 2.93 ERA in 29 starts (200 innings) for the Astros. He had high expectations for 2015 and managed to exceed them tremendously with his noteworthy campaign.
Keuchel will get raises in each of the next two seasons before he becomes a free agent after the 2018 league year. There were rumors about a possible long-term extension between the two sides, but nothing ever came to fruition.
In case you don't know much about the MLB's aribtration salary system, you can read more about it here.
