Braves sign three players to avoid arbitration

The Atlanta Braves avoided salary arbitration hearings with the team’s three remaining arbitration-eligible players Tuesday, agreeing to one-year contracts with starter Jair Jurrjens, reliever Eric O’Flaherty and outfielder Michael Bourn. The financial terms of the deals were not disclosed by the team, but Mark Bowman of MLB.com reported that Bourn will make $6.845M while Jurrjens will make $5.5M, with another $150,000 in incentives. Bowman also reported that O’Flaherty will make $2.49M this season.

One season ago, Jurrjens made the all-star team after posting a 12-3 record through July 6. Jurrjens would miss large chunks of August and all of September to finish with a 13-6 record and a 2.96 ERA after a 1.87 ERA at the break. Jurrjens has topped 200 innings just once in his four years with the Braves and has appeared in just 43 games the last two years. The team guaged interest in Jurrjens over the off-season but elected to bring back the 25-year-old who will be 26 when the season starts.

Bourn meanwhile was acquired by Atlanta at the trading deadline one year ago for Jordan Schafer and three minor league pitchers. Bourn won golden glove awards in 2009 and 2010 and was an all-star in 2010. His 61 steals led the National League one year ago, racking up 22 in 29 chances after being traded to Atlanta. He has a MLB-best 174 over the last three years. Last season’s .294 average was also a career-high, though his average dipped slightly after coming to the Braves. Bourn does give the Braves a legit leadoff man and table-setter that the team has not had since Rafael Furcal.

O’Flaherty meanwhile was a standout one year ago, appearing in 78 games and posting just a .98 ERA in 73.2 innings of work. O’Flaherty’s WHIP was a microscopic 1.086, and he allowed just 59 hits and eight earned runs while serving as primarily the seventh inning reliever, regardless of who was hitting. Unlike Bourn and Jurrjens, O’Flaherty has one more season of arbitration eligibility.

The three deals, combined with last week’s signings of Martin Prado and Jack Wilson mean that the Braves have now agreed to terms with all arbitration-eligible players on the team’s 40-man roster.