ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Rangers catcher Mitch Garver avoided salary arbitration by agreeing to a $3.9 million contract Friday night, after Texas also struck one-year deals earlier in the day with first baseman Nathaniel Lowe and pitchers Taylor Hearn, Jonathan Hernández and Brett Martin.
Lowe gets $4.05 million, Hearn $1,462,500, Martin $1,275,000 and Hernández $995,000.
Garver missed the final three months last season after undergoing surgery on the flexor tendon in his right arm. Texas acquired him from Minnesota at the start of spring training last year.
By reaching agreements with each of their five players who were eligible for arbitration, the Rangers again will avoid a hearing. Their last such hearing was in 2000, when they won their case over first baseman Lee Stevens, who was given the $3.5 million offered by the team after he asked for $4.7 million a year after making $2.1 million.
Lowe set career highs by hitting .302 with 27 home runs and 76 RBIs last season. He was the Rangers’ first .300 hitter since 2016 and his AL-high 150 starts at first base were the most for Texas since Mark Teixeira in 2006.
Martin was 1-7 with three saves and a 4.14 ERA in 55 appearances last year, but the left-hander is scheduled to have shoulder surgery next week that could keep him from pitching in 2023.
Hearn, a lefty, was 6-8 with a 5.13 ERA over 13 starts and 18 relief appearances last season. Hernández went 2-3 with four saves and a 2.97 ERA in 29 relief appearances, all after July 16 when the right-hander returned from Tommy John surgery that forced him to miss the 2021 season.
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