Phoenix, AZ (Sports Network) - The Arizona Diamondbacks agreed to contracts
for the 2013 season with starting pitcher Ian Kennedy, third baseman Chris
Johnson and relievers Brad Ziegler and Tony Sipp prior to Friday's deadline to
sign arbitration-eligible players.
Kennedy, who was eligible for salary arbitration for the first time, has
posted a National League-best 36 victories over the past two seasons after
backing up a sensational 21-4 campaign in 2011 with a 15-12 mark along with a
4.02 earned run average over 33 starts last year. The staff ace also posted a
team-leading 187 strikeouts while eclipsing the 200-inning mark for a second
consecutive season.
Johnson, acquired in a trade with Houston on July 29 of last season, combined
to hit .281 with career bests of 15 home runs and 76 RBI over 136 games with
the Diamondbacks and Astros. The 28-year-old is a lifetime .276 hitter over
parts of four major league seasons.
Ziegler led Arizona with 77 appearances out of the bullpen in 2012 and went
6-1 with a 2.49 ERA over 68 2/3 innings. The veteran right-hander also
established a club record by inducing 21 double plays, the most by a reliever
in the majors since 1988.
Sipp spent the last four seasons with the Cleveland Indians before being dealt
to Arizona as part of a three-team trade in December. The left-hander owns a
career 3.68 ERA over 248 games pitched in the majors and has limited lefty
hitters to a .215 average during his big-league tenure.
The Sports Network