Phillies, Revere avoid arbitration

The Phillies came to an agreement on a one-year contract with outfielder Ben Revere on Friday, tidying up the last remaining arbitration eligible player and having their roster close to finalized with spring training around the corner.

Revere and the Phillies avoided arbitration with a one-year, $1.95 million contract for the 2014 season.

Just a week earlier, the two parties set groundwork when they had to exchange numbers as part of the arbitration process. The Phillies proposed a $1.4 million salary for Revere; the centerfielder requested a $2.425 million salary for the upcoming season.

Just as with reliever Antonio Bastardo earlier this week, the two sides basically met in the middle. In doing so, they also avoid having to take the process to an arbitration hearing next month in Florida.

The Phillies entered the winter with five arbitration-eligible players - Revere, Bastardo, starting pitcher Kyle Kendrick, outfielder John Mayberry Jr. and infielder Kevin Frandsen. All five were tendered contracts in December and were able to avoid arbitration since.

Barring major changes to the payroll in the next two months, which appears unlikely, the Phillies will begin 2014 with a payroll very similar to last year.

In 2013, the Phillies had an opening day payroll of $159.58 million. The Phillies currently have 17 players under contract at $158.83 million for 2014. Once they renew the contracts of the pre-arbitration eligible players that will fill out the rest of the roster - including Domonic Brown, Cody Asche, Jake Diekman, Ethan Martin, and Brad Lincoln, among others - the payroll for 2014 should hover somewhere in the $164 million range.

Even if a non-roster player breaks camp with the team - like outfielder Bobby Abreu or pitcher Chad Gaudin - it wouldn't drastically change the payroll. Abreu, for instance, receives $800,000 if he makes the major league roster.

Revere, meanwhile, is entering his second season as the Phillies starting center fielder. The 25-year-old Revere hit .305 with a .338 OBP and had 22 stolen bases in 30 chances in 88 games in 2013.

Revere missed the entire second half of the season after breaking his right foot.

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