The Arizona Diamondbacks and catcher Miguel Montero narrowly avoided salary arbitration Tuesday by agreeing on a one-year contract worth $5.9 million moments before a scheduled salary-arbitration hearing, according to a report on the team’s website.
“I was sitting in the [hearing] room,” Montero said by phone from Tampa, Fla, according to the report. “I was getting a bottle of water right before it was supposed to start and they told me to step outside to talk.”
Montero, who hit .282 with 18 home runs and 86 RBIs in 2011, filed an arbitration number of $6.8 million a couple of weeks ago, while the Diamondbacks filed for $5.4 million. An arbitrator was scheduled to pick one of the two figures.
The 28-year old Montero was a first-time All-Star last season and finished 21st in the MVP voting.
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