Aroldis Chapman

Closer Aroldis Chapman avoided a salary arbitration hearing with the Cincinnati Reds by agreeing to a one-year, $8.05 million contract Friday.

Chapman, a three-time All-Star, has 113 saves over parts of five seasons with the Reds. He has 430 strikeouts over 252 2/3 major-league innings, for an average of 15.3 per nine innings. In 2014, Chapman recorded 36 saves and struck out 106 batters in 54 innings.  [Holy crap]

Chapman had filed for $8.7 million in arbitration, while the Reds had countered with an offer of $6.65 million. His settlement with Cincinnati came before a scheduled arbitration hearing Friday.

[sounds like a bargain to me, but then again, he only pitched 54 innings]