The Braves have agreed to a one-year, $4.75MM contract with Martin Prado, avoiding arbitration with the infielder, reports MLB.com's Mark Bowman (both Twitter links). The $4.75MM figure was slightly higher than the $4.4MM projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz as Prado's 2012 salary. Prado, a client of Peter E. Greenberg & Associates, was going through the arb process for the second time.
Prado is coming off a disappointing .260/.302/.385 season for Atlanta, but he has been the subject of several trade rumors this winter, with the Rockies, Orioles, and Royals just a few of the clubs attached to the versatile 28-year-old. Prado played mostly left field in 2011, but has experience all over the infield, particularly at second (before the Braves acquired Dan Uggla) and third (where Prado proved valuable as a fill-in for Chipper Jones last year). Atlanta GM Frank Wren, however, said last week that he believed Prado would still be a Brave by the start of Spring Training.
With Prado's contract settled, the Braves still have three remaining arb-eligible players — Michael Bourn, Jair Jurrjens and Eric O'Flaherty. You can track all of this winter's arb cases on the MLBTR Arbitration Tracker.
