By Matt Coker, Friday, Feb. 19 2010 @ 12:09PM
After losing
Lackey and
Figgy to free agency, you'd think the Angels would do all they could to keep a budding potential superstar like shortstop
Erick Aybar as happy as possible.
Happy in the lock-him-up-in-a-long-lucrative-contract sense, because Aybar is not exactly a brooder.
But, after Aybar sought a $2.75 million deal after making $460,000 last
year, and the Halos countered with a $1.8 million offer, the two sides agreed to a $2.05 million, one-year pact to avoid a salary arbitration hearing.
Aybar batted .312 with five homers and 58 RBI last season, something Baseball Prospectus labeled as a fluke (and the
Orange County Register Angels blogger brushes right back
here).
Freak season or no, Aybar will bunt to get on, light up the basepaths and turn in spectacular plays in the middle in 2010. Performance bonuses totaling $100,000 for plate appearances certainly won't hurt.
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