The Twins have avoided arbitration with Tommy Milone by signing the lefthander to a one-year, $4.5 million contract. The deal was confirmed by a source with knowledge of negotiations.
That leaves the Twins with five arbitration-eligible players heading into Friday's noon deadline to file. If teams can't reach a deal with their players, figures are exchanged on Friday and hearings take place Feb. 1-21.
Milone, 28, was 9-5 with a 3.92 ERA in 24 games (23 starts) with the Twins in 2015 and will in the mix for a spot in the rotation this season. He made 2.75 million last season.
Eduardo Escobar, Casey Fien, Kevin Jepsen, Eduardo Nunez and Trevor Plouffe are the remaining arbitration cases. Plouffe, who made $4.8 million last season, stands to get the biggest raise, as he could make $7-8 million in 2016.
