Rockies Avoid Arbitration With Outman and Lopez

Six players planned to file for arbitration with the Colorado Rockies as of yesterday: Dexter Fowler, Tyler Colvin, Jonathan Herrera, Josh Outman, Wilton Lopez, and Jhoulys Chacin. Of that group, two pitchers avoided arbitration with one year deals today.

Love those socks. Image: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

I look at it this way. In the case of Lopez, this is good news for the Rockies. While there is some uncertainty with his health because of a balky elbow, he is going to be an asset for the team in the back of the bullpen this season. It is for the better to lock that down now and avoid a hearing. In the case of Outman, this is good news for whichever arbiter would have been in charge of that hearing. Outman signed for a whopping $675,000. Seriously? Was there ever a chance Outman would not sign and actually take things to arbitration? What would those disputed figures have looked like? Wouldn’t the arbiter have just been mad that he/she had to decide the difference between, say, $700,000 and $660,000? It would have felt like at least a little bit of a waste of his/her arbitration energy, right?

Of course that leaves the bigger and more familiar names still waiting, including Colvin and Fowler as their Super Two players. Stay Tuned.