The Mariners avoided an arbitration fight with Charlie Furbush by agreeing Tuesday to a one-year, $750,000 deal for the lefty reliever. Furbush was on the edge of becoming arbitration eligible by moving into the top 22 percent of service time among players who have at least two years but less than three.
New York Mets infielder Ruben Tejada is booked for a grievance hearing. He is a day short of three years. If he wins and gains a day of service time, Furbush (two years, 121 days) would move up a step to arbitration, becoming what’s called a Super 2. If he became eligible and chose arbitration, he could have been in line for more money from the Mariners.
Furbush, 27, led the Mariners in game appearances with 71. He finished 2-6 with a 3.74 ERA and a .199 opponent batting average. He had 80 strikeouts in 65 innings. Furbush has spent parts of three season with Seattle as a starter and reliever after arriving from Detroit in the ill-fated trade of Doug Fister.
