PHOENIX -- The Braves acquired veteran right-hander Josh Collmenter from the Cubs on Sept. 13 to simply serve as a fill-in for their injury-depleted rotation over the remainder of the season, but they saw enough to provide him a chance to be part of their pitching staff again next season.
The Braves and Collmenter avoided arbitration on Monday when they agreed to a one-year, $1.2 million deal that includes the potential for an additional $1.2 million through incentives. MLBTradeRumors.com projected that Collmenter could receive $2.2 million via arbitration.
Collmenter allowed five earned runs over the 19 innings he totaled over three starts for the Braves. He made 15 relief appearances for the D-backs before being released and signing with the Cubs in August. He did not pitch at the big league level for Chicago.
The Braves are looking to add at least two pitchers to a rotation that currently consists of Julio Teheran and Mike Foltynewicz. Collmenter will likely compete with Matt Wisler and Aaron Blair for the rotation's fifth spot. He could be used as a reliever if he does not win a spot in the rotation.
With this deal, the Braves have six remaining unsigned arbitration-eligible players: Ender Inciarte, Ian Krol, Arodys Vizcaíno, Anthony Recker, Chris Withrow and Paco Rodríguez. Inciarte, Krol and Vizcaino are the only members of this group who are essentially locks to be tendered a contract.