The Rays agreed to on a one-year deal with reliever Joel Peralta, avoiding arbitration. Peralta made $925,000 while having a strong first season with the Rays in 2011, posting a 2.93 ERA in 67 2/3 of work in 71 games, with an 8.1 strikeout per nine innings ratio, a 2.4 walks per nine innings ratio, and a 27% ground ball rate. It’s projected that Peralta will make $2.175 million in 2012 with no incentives.
The Rays now have five remaining arbitration eligible players: Jeff Niemann, David Price, B.J. Upton, the newly acquired Burke Badenhop, and J.P. Howell.