D'Backs, Cliff Pennington avoid arbitration
Cliff Pennington - SS - Arizona Diamondbacks
Jan. 22, 2013 - 9:55 PM ET
Diamondbacks avoided arbitration with SS Cliff Pennington by agreeing to a two-year, $5 million contract.
The deal buys out Pennington's first two arbitration years. Pennington offers solid defense at shortstop, he's just a .249/.313/.356 career hitter and sported an ugly .589 OPS last season. The 28-year-old will compete with Didi Gregorius for the starting job at short this spring.