The Detroit Tigers took care of some in-house business on Monday, picking up catcher Alex Avila's $5.4 million option for the 2015 MLB season and thus avoiding arbitration.
Per Lynn Henning of The Detroit News, "in the end, the Tigers – who aren't commenting beyond a concise announcement – concluded arbitration likely would have delivered a figure at least as heavy as their 2015 commitment."
The Tigers could have negated Avila's option with a $200,000 contract buyout, but the team decided to avoid the arbitration process that would have come along with that buyout.
Avila, 27, is eligible for free agency next fall. Regardless of whether or not the team had picked up his option, he would have remained under team control in 2015.
The Tigers backstop batted just .218 in 127 games in 2014 with 11 home runs and a .686 OPS. While his average has dropped considerably from a career-best .295 in 2011, Avila at least partially made up for it by leading Major League Baseball this past season with 36 baserunners caught stealing.
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