PHOENIX (AP) -All-Star second baseman Orlando Hudson and four other Diamondbacks agreed to one-year contracts Friday as Arizona avoided arbitration with all its eligible players.
Catcher Chris Snyder, right-handed relievers Brandon Lyon and Chad Qualls, and infielder Chris Burke also agreed to deals. Right-hander Juan Cruz accepted a $1,937,500, one-year contract earlier this week.
Hudson’s contract is for $6.25 million, a considerable raise from the $3.9 million he made last season.
Snyder gets $1.85 million, up from the $400,000 he earned last year.
Lyon, one of three leading candidates to take over as Diamondbacks closer, agreed to a $3,125,000 million deal, more than double the $1.5 million he made last season.
Qualls and Burke came in the trade that sent closer Jose Valverde to the Houston Astros. Qualls, another closer possibility, agreed to $1,312,500, a big leap from the $441,000 he got a year ago. Burke gets $995,000. He earned $415,500 in 2007.
The agreements came shortly before teams and agents were to exchange numbers in the first stage of arbitration.
Contract talks for a longer deal with Hudson went nowhere.
The 30-year-old infielder hit .294 last season with 63 RBIs and earned his third consecutive Gold Glove. A spirited leader known as “O-Dog” to his teammates, Hudson missed the team’s surprising postseason run to the NL championship series after tearing ligaments in his left thumb in early September.
Snyder, 26, started most of Arizona’s games, batting .252 with 13 home runs and 47 RBIs.
Lyon was the setup man for Valverde in the Diamondbacks’ standout bullpen, going 6-4 with a 2.58 ERA in 73 appearances. The 28-year-old is expected to vie with Qualls and Tony Pena for the closing position this spring.
Qualls, 29, was 6-5 with a 3.05 ERA in 79 appearances last season, striking out a career-best 78.
The 27-year-old Burke batted .229 last season in a utility role for the Astros.
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