FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- The Orioles and pitcher Sidney Ponson avoided a potentially rancorous opening to spring training late Monday night by reaching settlement on a $2.1 million contract for this season and averting an arbitration hearing scheduled for today in Phoenix.
The sides' 11th-hour conciliation means that vice-president of baseball operations Syd Thrift, his entire staff and Ponson will participate in today's official opening of camp rather than sit on opposite ends of a conference room arguing the young right-hander's worth to a rebuilding club.
Thrift and Ponson's agent, Barry Praver, unsuccessfully attempted to negotiate a multi-year contract. When those talks bogged down, the parties concentrated Monday on a deal that would avoid having Ponson attend a hearing in which representatives for the club would present an unflattering side to the impressionable pitcher's 2000 performance.
"Most importantly, this settlement allows Sidney to stay focused on what he does best without the distraction of an arbitration hearing and the potential acrimony with the ballclub," Praver said. "We did have discussions about a multiple-year deal until [Monday]. Hopefully, this agreement will lay the groundwork for future discussions along those lines."
The Orioles renewed Ponson's contract last spring, assigning him a $400,000 salary.
Ponson achieved arbitration status after last season and submitted a bid for $2.65 million compared with the Orioles' $1.9 million offer. No compromise would have been possible if the case had gone before a three-judge panel in Phoenix.
"There's a difference between [renewing a contract] and arbitration," Thrift said. "It's not that big a deal to renew a contract. Compared to arbitration, it's not nearly as aggressive."
The settlement extended an industry-wide trend in which players have settled for below the midpoint ($2.275 million in Ponson's case) in order to avoid a loss before arbitors who in recent years have more frequently sided with management.
The 425 percent raise gives Ponson the most lucrative one-year contract ever for an Orioles player with three-plus years of service.
Both sides said they expect talks to resume during the season regarding a multi-year deal. Depending on Ponson's performance, the Orioles may attempt to secure him long enough to postpone his scheduled plunge into free agency after the 2003 season.
