Rockies and LHP Franklin Morales avoid arbitration
Two sides agree to one-year deal for 2014
DENVER - The Colorado Rockies announced today that the club has avoided arbitration with left-handed pitcher Franklin Morales by agreeing to a one-year contract. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, per club policy.
Morales, 27, returned to the organization that originally signed him as a non-drafted free agent out of Venezuela in 2002 when the Rockies acquired him along with RHP Chris Martin from Boston in exchange for Jonathan Herrera on December 18, 2013. From 2007-2011 in a Rockies uniform, Morales went 7-11 with a 4.83 ERA (147.1 ip, 79 er) in 102 games/15 starts. Morales spent the last two-plus seasons in Boston (2011-13), during which time he went 6-7 with a 3.90 ERA (134.0 ip, 58 er) in 93 games/10 starts. In 2013, Morales went 2-2 with a 4.62 ERA (25.1 ip, 13 er) in 20 games/one start as a member of the World Champion Red Sox. Overall in his career, the left-hander is 13-18 with 11 saves and a 4.38 ERA (281.1 ip, 137 er) in 195 games/25 starts between the Rockies and Red Sox. Morales has held left-handed hitters to a .194 (65-for-335) opponents average in his career.
The Rockies currently have a full 40-man roster.