From the diaries. The link to Sam Mellinger's story is here.-RR

If I'd known about this, I would have posted it in my arbitration numbers diary.  Oh well.

The Royals avoided arbitration by agreeing to contracts with three players on Friday and exchanged arbitration numbers with their three other eligible players.

First baseman/outfielder Ross Gload agreed to a two-year deal with a club option, while catcher John Buck and left-handed pitcher Jorge De La Rosa agreed to one-year deals.

Gload hit .288 with 51 RBIs and agreed to a two-year deal worth $3.2 million. The club option for 2010 is worth $2.6 million.

Buck hit .222 and led the team with 18 home runs. He signed for $2.2 million, a raise from the $440,000 he made in 2007.

De La Rosa went 8-12 with a 5.82 ERA and signed a deal for $1.025 million plus performance bonuses.

These players all got more than I thought they'd get.  I did a horrible job of estimating arbitration awards.  This takes the projected payroll up to $63.2M, $3.8M under last year's payroll. The Royals also signed former Padre starting pitcher Brian Lawrence to a minor league deal. He was a pretty good, reliable starting pitcher until he torn his labrum and rotator cuff, which kept him from pitching the last two years. He's a nice no-risk signing to see if he can come back from his injury.