MLB Trade Rumors and News: Arenado signs record breaking arbitration settlement

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Do you love baseball arbitration? Who are we kidding, of course you do. Stay up to date with players and their payouts with our 2019 MLB Arbitration Tracker.

• Nolan Arenado and the Rockies made history as they agreed on a one year, $26 million contract to avoid arbitration. That $26 million is a most given to an arbitration eligible player and frankly, Arenado deserves it.
• The Astros bolstered the back-end of their rotation when they signed Wade Miley to a one year deal yesterday. Miley was one of the bigger surprises performance-wise last season and should help the Astros (at least a bit) in offsetting the losses of Charlie Morton and (very likely) Dallas Keuchel.
• The Padres have made a bit of a surprise entrance to the top of the free agent market as they are showing interest in some of the top names on the free agent market including Bryce Harper and Manny Machado. San Diego may not look the part of a contender right now, but they have one of the league’s best farm systems and could become good in a hurry.
• The Diamondbacks are taking a chance on reliever Greg Holland after signing the three-time All-Star closer to a one-year, $3.5 million deal.
• Staying in the NL West, the Rockies have signed first baseman Mark Reynolds to a minor-league contract.
• The Marlins have had an extremely quiet offseason, but they made an addition on Tuesday evening, announcing the signing of infielder Neil Walker to a one-year deal that The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports is worth $2 million. Walker, who was considered an upper-echelon second baseman while playing for the Pirates and Mets, transitioned to a utility role with the Yankees last season and is expected to play a similar role with Miami — Sirius XM’s Craig Mish tweeted that the Marlins’ front office expects him to see action at first base, third base, and the corner outfield spots.
• The Blue Jays added some much-needed infield depth on Tuesday, signing former Phillies and Padres shortstop Freddy Galvis to a one-year deal. Galvis serves as an insurance policy for both inexperienced shortstop Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and frequently-injured second baseman Devon Travis, and he’ll help bridge the gap to highly-regarded shortstop prospect Bo Bichette.
• Do free agents lose value when they remain on the market deep into the offseason? We took a look at the data, and let’s just say it usually helps them to sign sooner than later.
• The Marlins have played their hand really slowly in trade talks surrounding their star catcher J.T. Realmuto. Now, it looks like things are finally coming to a head with the Dodgers, Padres, Reds, and Braves seemingly involved.
• While the Rangers likely won’t be very good next year, they aren’t standing idle, as they went out and signed free agent reliever Shawn Kelley to a one-year deal. Not exactly a sexy move, but at least it’s something.
• The Royals and Whit Merrifield have finalized a four-year extension. This will keep him under contract through his arbitration years — and potentially what was set to be his first free-agent year, depending on if they pick up his club option — and keeps Kansas City a forced to be reckoned with on the basepaths.
• The Mets have signed Justin Wilson to two-year, $10 million contract. Wilson was a smart acquisition for the Mets, being the best southpaw reliever left on the market. Dare I say it? Between Wilson, Edwin Diaz, Jeurys Familia, and Seth Lugo it looks like the Mets will have a strong bullpen going into this season. (Knocks on every piece of wood in both Queens and Brooklyn.)
• The Dodgers have the money and prospects to basically go and get whoever they really want to, and they made their biggest move of the offseason when they snatched up A.J. Pollock on a five-year deal. While some thought that the Dodgers moves earlier this offseason signaled that they were going to make a run at Bryce Harper, it looks like this move takes them out of the running for his services.
• The Padres made a big splash last year in free agency. Could they do it again this year? Well, they are at least doing their due diligence on free agents Manny Machado, Bryce Harper, Mike Moustakas and Marwin Gonzalez, reportedly “checking in” with each player.
• After losing Adrian Beltre to retirement and trading Jurickson Profar to Oakland, the Rangers found their third baseman for 2019, signing veteran Asdrubal Cabrera to a one-year, $3.5 million deal. It’s quite the bargain for a player who hit 23 homers last season and could easily see his power play up at Globe Life Park.
• Our Stephen Tolbert took an in-depth look at how the qualifying offer system has affected players’ value in free agency.
• The Reds have long been linked to a lot of starting pitchers in an attempt to become relevant in the very competitive NL Central. After landing Alex Wood in a trade earlier this offseason, Cincinnati got another potentially strong rotation arm from the Yankees in Sonny Gray and immediately extended him. What will be interesting to see is how well Gray performs after getting traded to a team with yet another hitter-friendly home park.
• Arbitration settlements have come and gone now, which only leaves some (possible) more negotiating and the hearings themselves. Our own Andersen Pickard made you all a handy guide as to what to expect next in the arbitration process.
• If you’re sick of sick the two-player circus that has been ensuing all offseason, here are 10 storylines to follow throughout the rest of the winter.