David Hernandez, Diamondbacks avoid arbitration

#Dbacks avoid arbitration and agree to a one-year contract with pitcher David Hernandez.

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) December 17, 2014

Nick Piecoro subsequently Tweeted that it's a $2 million deal for Hernandez, who is in his final year of arbitration and so is scheduled to be a free-agent at the end of next season. He hasn't pitched since the last game of the 2013 season, having spent the entirety of this year rehabbing from the surgery du annee which is Tommy John. He went under the knife on the first day of April, the issue having surfaced during spring training, so his status for Opening Day 2015 is still somewhat in doubt.

$2m is fractionally below the $2.1m projected by MLBTR, and would be the same amount received by Hernandez for his services this year, the second season of a deal agreed with the Diamondbacks in June 2012, covering the first two years where he was arbitration eligible. Hernandez came over from the Orioles in the trade for Mark Reynolds, and since then has appeared in 208 games for Arizona, posting a 3.42 ERA (116 ERA+) with a K:BB ratio of 241:76 in exactly two hundred innings of work. He did struggle for a while in 2013, but a stint in Reno appeared to sort Hernandez out, and after his return, he allowed one eared run in 14 innings over the final month, with 16 strikeouts.

If he gets back to full healt, he may operate as a set-up man for closer Addison Reed in 2015. However, the Diamondbacks do now have a number of other possible contenders for that position, including young pitchers Matt Stites and Evan Marshall., as well as veteran Brad Ziegler. Arizona still have four other players that remain arbitration eligible: Jeremy Hellickson, Cliff Pennington, Addison Reed and Mark Trumbo,