Angels avoid arbitration with David Freese, Kevin Jepsen
The Angels avoided arbitration with new third baseman David Freese and returning reliever Kevin Jepsen on Friday, signing Freese for $5.05 million and Jepsen for $1.46 million.
Both players settled at the midpoints of salary figures they exchanged with the team in mid-January. Freese, acquired from the St. Louis Cardinals in the Peter Bourjos trade, was expected to go to a hearing because the sides were $1.9 million apart, a considerable gap.
Freese, the 2011 National League Championship Series and World Series most valuable player for the Cardinals, hit .262 with a .340 on-base percentage, .381 slugging percentage, nine home runs and 60 runs batted in last season.
Jepsen had a record of 1-3 with a 4.50 earned-run average in 45 games and underwent a season-ending appendectomy in late August.
With the January signings of closer Ernesto Frieri ($3.8 million) and reliever Fernando Salas ($870,000), the Angels have come to terms with all four of their arbitration-eligible players.
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