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Rockies, Matt Lindstrom Avoid Arbitration, Agree To Two-Year Deal With 2013 Option

The Colorado Rockies' official Twitter page reports that the club has avoided arbitration with reliever Matt Lindstrom, who was acquired earlier in the offseason via a trade with the Houston Astros:

#Rockies agree to 2-yr deal with Matt Lindstrom, avoiding arb, with a club option for 2013. Stewart, Paulino, Hammel arg eligible Rox left.less than a minute ago via TweetDeck

 

However, no salary figure is yet available. The Rockies have five arbitration-eligible players this offseason and now have two players under new contracts following Lindstrom's deal. Matt Belisle avoided arbitration last week with a $2.35 million deal.

[UPDATE] Troy Renck reports that the deal gives Lindstrom $2.8 million in 2011 and $3.6 million in 2012. The 2013 option is good for $4 million, but it has a $200,000 buyout.

Lindstrom completed his fourth year in the major leagues, spending the first three seasons with the Florida Marlins before joining the Astros for the 2010 season. His last two seasons have not been great (5.89 and 4.39 ERAs with far too many walks per nine innings), but the Rockies' scouts see something in him and his upper-90s fastball. The 2013 option would buy out his first year of free agency. Also, Huston Street could be gone after 2012 (there is mutual option for 2013) and Rafael Betancourt is a free agent after this season.

Third baseman Ian Stewart and pitchers Jason Hammel and Felipe Paulino are the remaining arbitration-eligible players. Paulino, who will compete for a rotation spot or a place in the bullpen, was acquired in a separate deal from the Houston Astros for Clint Barmes.