Phillies' Kyle Kendrick Avoids Arbitration

Not this biggest story in baseball at the current moment, but a story that appeals to the area. Kyle Kendrick avoided arbitration with the Phillies on Tuesday by signing a short-term contract.  The 26 year-old agreed to a one-year $2.45 million contract earlier this week. This was Kendrick's first year for arbitration eligibility, and was able to sign a contract with ease. Kendrick has 93 appearances with the Phillies, 83 of them being starts. The young right-hander is 35-24, with a 4.69 ERA in his career as a pitcher. Kyle Kendrick's salary falls along with other first-year arbitration-eligible starting pitchers such as Detroit's Armando Galarraga and Toronto's Brandon Morrow, signing for $2.3 million each. If the Phillies decide to trade Joe Blanton, Kendrick would fall in as the Phillies fifth starter, but until that happens, he will be a mid-inning reliever with Chad Durbin. Another pitcher that Kendrick would compete for starts with would be Vance Worley, a personal favorite of mine. The Phillies no longer have any players eligible for arbitration after since Ben Francisco was signed last Saturday and Kyle Kendrick was signed Tuesday. It appears that the Phillies have more starters then they can deal with, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. I personally remember Kyle Kendrick's first start, which was a great day back in 2007. Or the time Brett Myers played a prank on Kendrick stating that he had been traded to a Japanese team . Kyle Kendrick has had a great career for being such a young player, but I hope he keeps his stats up as a starter, or a reliever. I hope Kyle Kendrick the best of luck in the 2011 season, as a blogger and as a personal fan.