Miguel Sano and the Minnesota Twins avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $30 million, three-year contract on Friday, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the agreement had not been announced.
Sano bounced back from a rough 2018 with a career-high 34 homers in just 105 games last season. The 26-year-old third baseman had a career-best .923 OPS.
Sano made $2.65 million last season in his first year of arbitration eligibility. The sides swapped proposed figures in arbitration as placeholders, the player asking for $6.25 million and the team offering $5.1 million.
Minnesota reached one-year deals with outfielder Eddie Rosario ($7.75 million), left-hander Taylor Rogers ($4.45 million), outfielder Byron Buxton ($3,075,000), and right-handers Trevor May ($2,205,000) and Tyler Duffey ($1.2 million).
Right-hander Jose Berrios did not reach an agreement and remained on track for a hearing next month. He asked for a raise from $620,000 to $4.4 million and was offered $4,025,000. The 25-year-old Berrios was selected for his second All-Star team last season and went 14-8 with a 3.68 ERA to lead the rotation for the AL Central champion Twins. He had 195 strikeouts in a career-high 200 1/3 innings and figures to be in line for a long-term contract with a team that’s a bit short on starting pitching.
The 28-year-old Rosario, who made $4.91 million last season in his first year of arbitration eligibility, contributed a career-high 32 homers to a Twins team that set the big league season record with 307. He batted .276 with a career-best 109 RBIs and had seven assists, the third-most among AL left fielders.
Rogers took over the closer role from Blake Parker, who was released in July, and had 90 strikeouts with only 11 walks in 69 innings. The 29-year-old left-hander had 30 saves with a 2.61 ERA. He made $1,525,000 last season in his first year of arbitration eligibility.
Buxton, who made $1.75 million in 2019 in his first year of arbitration eligibility, was waylaid again by injuries. He had surgery on his left shoulder in September, putting his availability for the start of spring training in question. The 26-year-old has played in more than 92 games only once in five major league seasons. The 2017 Gold Glove winner had a career-best .827 OPS in 2019, batting .262 with 30 doubles and 10 homers in 87 games.
After missing the 2017 season following Tommy John surgery, the 30-year-old May has come back strong as a key cog in the bullpen. He had a 2.94 ERA in 64 1/3 innings with 79 strikeouts in 2019, while opponents batted just .184 against him. The right-hander made $900,000 in 2019 in his first year of arbitration eligibility.
Duffey is a 29-year-old right-hander who had a breakout 2019 season. Duffey had 82 strikeouts in 57 2/3 innings with a 2.50 ERA, earning $562,500. He had a 26-game scoreless streak from July 28 to Sept. 25, with just 11 hits allowed in 23 2/3 innings while the Twins went 20-6 in those games.
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