Blue Jays, Rasmus avoid arbitration

The Toronto Blue Jays and center fielder Colby Rasmus avoided arbitration today after agreeing to a one-year, $4.675 million deal, reports Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com. It was the second time Rasmus was eligible for arbitration. Rasmus earned $2.7 million last year. He remains under team control through 2014.

Rasmus, 26, hit .223/.289/.400 with 23 home runs in 625 plate appearances last year. He is a career .243/.313/.422 hitter with 76 home runs in four seasons spent with the St. Louis Cardinals and Blue Jays. He was acquired by Toronto in 2011 in the deal that sent Edwin Jackson, Octavio Dotel and Marc Rzepczynski to the Cardinals.

Rasmus batted second most of the time last year but is expected to drop lower in the order in 2013 with Jose Reyes and Melky Cabrera occupying the top two spots.

The Blue Jays have three remaining arbitration eligible players in Emilio Bonifacio, J.A. Happ and Josh Thole. Toronto has increased their payroll significantly with the additions of Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, Jose Reyes, Melky Cabrera and R.A. Dickey this offseason.