Atlanta Braves avoid arbitration and sign Brandon Beachy to 1-year contract

Aug 3, 2013; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Brandon Beachy (37) waits for a new baseball after Philadelphia Phillies right fielder John Mayberry Jr. (15) runs the bases after hitting a home run in the second inning at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

UPDATE: MLB reporting “phenom” Chris Cotillo reports an estimated 2014 salary for Beachy.

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The Atlanta Braves can officially remove at least one name from their 2014 arbitration list.

Brandon Beachy and the team have agreed on a 1-year contract (terms not yet disclosed) to keep Beachy in the Atlanta rotation, and while that is a non-story for the most part, it always helps to avoid a long arbitration battle. The 27-year-old right-hander appeared in 5 games last season after recovering from Tommy John in 2012, and he threw 30 innings of 4.50 ball with some semi-encouraging statistics.

Prior to the arm trouble, Beachy looked like the “next big thing” in the Atlanta rotation, posting over 4 fWAR over 220+ innings from 2011 and 2012, and he has flashed the ability to be a high-volume strikeout pitcher at the big league level. It remains to be seen just how effective he’ll be with the additional time to rehab that elbow problem, but Beachy is currently penciled in (if healthy) as a member of the 2014 rotation.

After Beachy’s signing, the Braves still have several arbitration-eligible players to deal with.

680 the Fan’s Kevin McAlpin was quick to the trigger with a list of names following the signing, and to be honest, Beachy was expected to be the “easiest” to agree with of the 8 names. Stay tuned for all the news as it breaks.