No arbitration worries for Tigers: Boyd, Jones, Farmer, Norris all signed
Detroit – The Tigers won't be sweating the arbitration process this year.
On Friday they signed the four remaining arbitration-eligible players to one-year contracts: pitchers Matthew Boyd, Daniel Norris and Buck Farmer, as well as center fielder JaCoby Jones.
Boyd, who will go to camp as the ace of the Tigers' rotation, signed for $5.3 million.
Norris, who projects to be in the Tigers’ rotation this season, will earn $2.96 million. Farmer, who finished last season as the club’s eighth-inning set-up man, agreed to a deal worth $1.15 million.
Jones, looking to re-establish himself as the everyday center fielder, is back for $1.575 million.
Last week, the Tigers avoided arbitration with starting pitcher Michael Fulmer, signing him for $2.8 million.
Boyd, whose name continues to be bandied about in trade rumors, finished sixth in the American League with 238 strikeouts last season. His 11.55 strikeouts-per-nine innings ranked fourth.
Also, though, he led the American League allowing 39 home runs and his ERA after June 2 ballooned to just under 6.0 (5.58).
Norris made a career-high 29 starts and threw 144.1 innings last season, re-establishing himself after two injury-plagued seasons. Though he was on an innings limit, his last eight starts – all of them limited to three innings – he limited opposing hitters to a .193 average and a .301 slugging percentage, allowing six runs in 24 innings.
Farmer became the workhorse of the bullpen last season, appearing in career-high 73 games, pitching 67.2 innings. In 34 appearances after the All-Star break, he limited hitters to a .195 average and had a 1.021 WHIP.
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Jones' season ended in early August last year after his left wrist was broken by a 95 mph fastball. He ended up playing just 88 games. Still, his .235 average, .430 slugging percentage and .740 OPS were career-highs.
Fulmer, the 2017 American League Rookie of the Year who missed the entire 2019 season after Tommy John surgery, isn't expected to be back until after the All-Star break.
Twitter @cmccosky