Peralta, Torres sign to avoid arbitration with Crew

MILWAUKEE -- The Brewers signed pitchers Wily Peralta and Carlos Torres to one-year contracts on Friday, but they were unable strike a deal with right-hander Chase Anderson, raising the possibility of the club's first arbitration hearing in five years.
Peralta signed for $4.275 million, according to MLB Network's Jon Heyman, a raise from the $2.8 million he made during a trying 2016 season split between the Brewers and Triple-A Colorado Springs. Torres signed for $2.175 million, according to SB Nation.
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Anderson, meanwhile, remains under club control for next season, but his salary is yet to be determined. The sides formally exchanged one-year contract proposals on Friday, with Anderson seeking $2.85 million and the Brewers filing at $2.45 million. If Anderson remains unsigned by the date of his arbitration hearing later this month or in February, his representatives and the Brewers will each argue their case before a panel of judges.
Milwaukee has not gone all the way to a hearing with a player since reliever Jose Veras in 2012.
"It's often a healthy part of the process when there are legitimate disagreements about where the player falls in the salary structure," general manager David Stearns said. "Hearings are often the best way to find a remedy."
Anderson is arbitration-eligible for the first time as a "Super 2" player with between two and three years of Major League service. The website MLBTradeRumors.com projected he would earn nearly $3.1 million in 2017.
The Brewers acquired Anderson in a January 2016 trade with the D-backs, and he went 9-11 with a 4.39 ERA in 31 games (30 starts) in his first season in Milwaukee. Anderson turned 29 on Nov. 30.

It was unclear whether the Brewers would continue to negotiate with Anderson between Friday and the hearing date. Before Stearns took over as GM following the 2016 season, the club employed a "file and trial" strategy for four arbitration cycles from '12-15 under former GM Doug Melvin. Players who remained unsigned as of exchange date automatically went to a hearing.
Stearns' previous experience offers few clues. He attended upwards of 25 arbitration hearings while working in Major League Baseball's Labor Relations Department from 2008-11, but his next two employers, the Indians and Astros, did not have any hearings during Stearns' tenures with those clubs.
Only twice since 1998 have the Brewers gone that far with a player. Corey Hart took his case to a panel of judges in St. Petersburg, Fla., in 2010 and won a $4.8 million salary. In '12, Milwaukee won the hearing with Veras. He still earned $2 million.
Overall, the Brewers have gone to the hearing room five times.
"It's always nice to settle cases pre-exchange," Stearns said. "But we understand that exchanging and going to hearings is part of the process, so we're prepared to do that as well."