HBT: Ellsbury signs one-year, $9 million deal with Sox

Jacoby Ellsbury will make $9 million in his final season before becoming a free agent, as the center fielder and the Red Sox avoided arbitration with a one-year contract.

Ellsbury was injured for more than half the season and hit just .271 with a .682 OPS when in the lineup, which represented a 250-point drop from his OPS in a breakout 2011 campaign.

However, he was paid $8.05 million last season and arbitration is designed to hand out raises with each added year of service time. With a strong 2013 he could be in line for a huge long-term deal as a 30-year-old free agent, but obviously there are plenty of reasons for the Red Sox to be wary of locking up Ellsbury before then.

Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/01/18/jacoby-ellsbury-and-red-sox-avoid-arbitration-for-9-million/

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