ATLANTA -- The Braves avoided this year's salary arbitration hearing process when they reached agreements with right-handed reliever Arodys Vizcaino and left-handed reliever Ian Krol just before Friday afternoon's deadline.
Vizcaino agreed to a one-year, $1.55 million deal and Krol agreed to a one-year, $900,000 deal. The Braves have now signed each of their arbitration-eligible players.
Agreements can be reached up until the start of a scheduled hearing, but having adopted the file-and-trial practice, the Braves have claimed they will not negotiate any one-year deals with their arbitration-eligible players after salary figures are exchanged. Thus, Vizcaino and Krol would have likely had their 2017 salary determined by a hearing had they not reached an agreement on Friday.
The Braves lost their arbitration hearing against Mike Minor before the 2015 season. That marked the first time they had experienced a hearing since opposing John Rocker's case in 2001.
This will be the second arbitration-eligible season for Vizcaino, who made $897,500 while converting 10 saves and posting a 4.42 ERA over 38 2/3 innings (43 appearances) for the Braves in 2016. The 26-year-old right-hander has compiled a 3.52 ERA over the 94 2/3 innings he has totaled since making his big league debut for Atlanta in 2011.
Vizcaino totaled just five big league appearances from 2012-14 as he recovered from Tommy John surgery. He missed the first three months of the 2015 while serving a performance-enhancing-drug suspension and then capably served as the Braves' closer for the final two months of that season.
After posting a 1.53 ERA and converting six of seven save opportunities through his first 23 2/3 innings this past season, Vizcaino battled some fatigue in June and experienced two stints on the disabled list after the All-Star break. He is expected to be at full strength as he enters Spring Training projected to serve as closer Jim Johnson's setup man.
This was the first arbitration-eligible season for Krol, who has posted a 4.27 ERA through the first 139 innings (173 appearances) of his career. The 25-year-old southpaw produced a 3.18 ERA in 51 innings (63 appearances) for Atlanta last year.