Pirates agree to deals with Jared Hughes, Drew Hutchison

The Pirates have avoided arbitration with right-hander Drew Hutchison:

Hutchison had a salary of $2.2M in 2016, which was his first year of arbitration eligibility. As Charlie wrote earlier, MLBTR projected Hutchison to get the same $2.2M for 2017. He spent barely over a month in the majors in 2016, so he has at least two more years of arbitration ahead of him. After coming over from Toronto in an obscure trade I can’t quite recall, Hutchison spent his first month at Indianapolis, putting up poor numbers with a 4.50 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, 3.8 BB/9 and 7.0 K/9. In September with the Pirates, he made one start and five relief appearances, posting a 5.56 ERA and 1.59 WHIP. Although it often seems to be forgotten, Hutchison is actually a major league veteran rather than a prospect, having made 73 starts over four years with the Blue Jays.

Five Pirates — Gerrit Cole, Tony Watson, Jordy Mercer, Juan Nicasio and Jared Hughes — remain eligible for arbitration and have yet to reach agreement. The Pirates earlier avoided arbitration with Wade LeBlanc by agreeing to a deal.

In one other, semi-related bit of news, MLBTR is pointing to reports that the Mets and Orioles have decided to employ the file-and-trial approach to arbitration. By MLBTR’s count, thirteen teams now employ that method at least to some extent.

UPDATE: The Pirates have also reached a deal with Jared Hughes:

This was also Hughes’ second year of eligibility. He made $2.175M in 2016. MLBTR had projected him for $2.5M.