Cubs, Jake Arrieta Settle On 1-Year, $10.7-Million Deal

(CBS/AP) -- Chicago Cubs ace Jake Arrieta has agreed to a $10.7-million, one-year contract, a source told the Associated Press, avoiding arbitration with the highest one-year deal for a pitcher with four years of major league service.

The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the contract hadn't been announced by the team.

Arrieta, who turns 30 in March, had a breakout season last year, helping the Cubs to an NL wild card. The NL Cy Young Award winner finished with a 22-6 record and a 1.77 ERA, easily cruising past most of his previous career highs.

That marks a significant raise for Arrieta, who made $3.63 million in 2015. It's a deserved raise too, as he's coming off a season in which he went 22-6 with a 1.77 ERA and submitted the best second half of a season for a pitcher in baseball history.

Arrieta's new salary was higher than the 10.25 million midpoint of the sides' previously exchanged figures. The Cubs' figure was $7.5 million, while Arrieta's was $13 million. Had the sides gone to arbitration, an arbiter would've had to choose one of those two salary figures (not a midpoint), based off the salaries of pitchers of similar service time and accomplishment.

The Cubs have never gone to arbitration with a player since president of baseball operations Theo Epstein came to Chicago in October 2011.

Arrieta's under team control through 2017, and he's represented by powerful agent Scott Boras, whose high-profile clients often head to the open market.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.