Another group of arbitration-eligible players signed new contracts this week avoiding arbitration. Today we'll catch up with those not previously covered, as well as a couple of minor league deals.

Miguel Batista signed a two-year, $5.8 million deal with Arizona on Friday. He will reportedly receive $2M in 2002 and $3.25M in 2003; on top of that base salary, he'll receive a $250K signing bonus and an option for a third year at $5M with a $300K buyout. There is also an additional $475K available in performance bonuses.

While Batista did have a fairly solid season last year, he is less than a year removed from qualifying as nothing better than a AAAA pitcher on Montreal and Kansas City. Therefore, I find it questionable for a team to offer such a player a rather expensive multi-season contract when they have as many financial troubles as the Diamondbacks.

Now that he's signed, I would expect him to continue in the role he held last season as a spot starter and long reliever. Had Arizona not signed Rick Helling, Batista would have been a strong candidate for a full time job in the rotation, but that acquisition has bumped Batista out of the running as Brian Anderson and a healthy Todd Stottlemyre should fill out the rotation. If Batista shows some consistency in his performance this season, he might be worthy of this two-year deal; however it still seems like an unnecessary risk for the Diamondbacks to take. He would certainly need to move to the rotation and pitch very well before I would ever consider picking up that option.

On Saturday, Orlando Hernandez signed a one-year, $3.2M contract with the New York Yankees. Following his struggles with injury and some ineffectiveness last season, Hernandez will be fighting for his job in the starting rotation during Spring Training. After re-acquiring David Wells and re-signing Sterling Hitchcock, the Yankees don't particularly need Hernandez any longer. While he could return to his former levels, New York has little tolerance for wild cards that could interfere with their grand plans, so the club is expected to try to move him soon. At $3.2 million, Hernandez is quite tradable if he proves himself healthy, so New York likely did a good job with this signing.

Ramiro Mendoza also signed a one-year contract with the Yankees on Saturday worth a reported $2.6 million. Given the acquisition of Steve Karsay, Mendoza should drop further in the pen to middle relief status, so this salary seems a little pricey. However New York can afford to pay it, and Mendoza was their only consistent right-handed middle reliever last season..

Scott Spiezio signed a one-year, $2,275,000 contract with Anaheim last week. Spiezio's versatility is useful to the Angels, but as with Randy Winn's deal discussed yesterday, his limited production does not warrant this kind of money. Anaheim is stuck paying him as they really don't have a lot of other options given their rather anemic offense; however they owe it to that pitching staff to attempt to acquire some additional run support in the near future.

Seattle signed Carlos Guillen to a one-year, $1.4 million deal on Friday. Guillen can reportedly earn an additional $25K in performance bonuses for each of 525, 550, and 575 plate appearances. Guillen had one of his better seasons last year, but with the acquisition of Desi Relaford and the imminent ascent of players like Willie Bloomquist, Jermaine Clark and Antonio Perez, there will soon be little reason for the Mariners to continue paying him. I recommend the club look into trading him this season, especially if they somehow fall out of the playoff race before the deadline.

John Thomson signed a $1.3 million, one-year contract with Colorado on Thursday. Thomson suffered some troubles with his shoulder during the first few months of last season but pitched well after making some changes to his delivery while in rehab at AAA. As the Rockies only remaining veteran homegrown starter, he should certainly earn his salary in 2002 if he remains healthy. His success has been based around solid skills that would likely garner considerable media interest were he to pitch anywhere other than in Colorado, so I would expect his numbers to hold steady. Thomson is also reportedly eligible for performance bonuses of an undisclosed amount and nature.

On Tuesday, Travis Miller agreed to a one-year contract with a base salary of $545,000 and an additional $45K in potential performance incentives. Miller did a decent job out of the pen for Minnesota last year, so this is likely an acceptable salary. However, he really needs to be used almost exclusively in a specialist role as he historically pitches rather poorly against right-handers.

Ramon Martinez signed a one-year, $775,000 deal with San Francisco on Friday. While he had some troubles last season compared to his production levels in 2000, Martinez will likely receive another few hundred at-bats in Dusty Baker's continued attempts to optimize his roster production. Considering his ability to play any infield position, this salary is only slightly high for a reserve infielder with Martinez's skills.

The Phillies reportedly came to terms with David Coggin on a one-year, split-contract. Coggin, who is expected to compete for a position as Philadelphia's fifth starter, will receive $240K if he makes the team but only $102K if he goes to the minor leagues. The Phillies rotation is somewhat in flux, so I would expect him to see some time at both levels in 2002.

Alan McDill signed a minor league contract with the Phillies on Saturday. Philadelphia is a little short on left-handed pitching out of the pen, so he has a decent chance of making the team as a lefty-specialist if he performs well in Spring Training. He pitched well in a handful of innings with the Red Sox last season and could be a very good pick up.

The Yankees added two more minor league signings to their list of off-season acquisitions. Chris Widger and Ruben Rivera agreed to minor league deals with New York on Friday and Saturday respectively. Widger will join the mix of potential back-up catchers. However, he has not played for over a year due to shoulder problems and had yet another shoulder surgery in August that may prevent him from participating in Spring Training. Rivera, who was traded by New York when they acquired Hideki Irabu, is a better option for a back-up outfielder than Gerald Williams. Nonetheless, he doesn't have a substantial shot at bumping Williams from the 40-man considering Williams' major league contract, so Rivera won't likely see the majors until Shane Spencer's annual DL trip.