The Philadelphia Phillies have reportedly reached an agreement with catcher Carlos Ruiz to the tune of $8.85 million over three years, avoiding salary arbitration.

After batting .255 with 43 runs batted in and a career-best nine home runs in his fourth season with the Phillies, Ruiz was also offered a $5 million club option for 2013 with a $500,000 buyout. The backstop, who turned 31 last Friday, boasts a .303 postseason average, including two World Series appearances and one ring, of course.

In other arbitration news, Hunter Pence is officially rich after he and the Houston Astros came to a $3.5 million, one-year agreement. The All-Star outfielder will get a raise nearly seven times the size of his 2009 $464,000 salary after hitting .282 with 25 longballs and 72 RBIs. The two sides met $100,000 from the halfway mark of the club’s $3.1 million offer and Pence’s $4.1 million asking price. Yay team work!

The Astros, who have yet to strike a deal with their final arbitration player, Wandy Rodriguez, also offered pitcher Tim Byrdak a one-year, $1.6 million salary. And he took it. The 36-year old lefty made a team-high 76 relief appearances last season, going 1-2 with a 3.32 ERA. He only allowed 39 hits over 61.1 innings with a ridiculous .178 opponents’ batting average to a .178 average, tops among big league south paws.

One last interesting item: Matt Stairs still plays baseball. Yes, the San Diego Padres are going to give him a shot, offering the soon-to-be-42-year-old old schooler a minor league deal.  You’d think at his age, if he’d like to do more than pinch-hit every once in a while, he’d scout American League rosters for designated hitter openings.

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