Today was the last day for arbitration-eligible players and their teams to exchange their proposed salaries for the upcoming season. Unsurprisingly, it also makes for a very popular day for teams to sign the aforementioned arbitration-eligible players.
So, too, it was with the Cubs, who today signed second basemen Mike Fontenot and Jeff Baker to $1 million and $975k, respectively. The Cubs also signed a couple of pitchers: Tom Gorzelanny got $800k and Angel Guzman got $825k. The team also signed backup catcher Koyie Hill for $700k. No real surprises in those figures, save Fontenot, who was only in his first year of eligibility after a terrible 2009 campaign, and still managed to reel in the most of the group. On the whole, it appears that the Cubs got off a little light, as each of Gorzelanny, Guzman and Baker could have conceivably topped Fontenot’s $1 million mark.
The three remaining arbitration-eligible Cubs are shortstop Ryan Theriot, now-closer Carlos Marmol, and swing-man Sean Marshall.