Angels reach terms with 3B Alberto Callaspo on $3.15-million deal
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The Angels on Monday avoided arbitration with Alberto Callaspo, agreeing to terms with the third baseman on a one-year, $3.15-million contract that leaves shortstop Erick Aybar as the team’s only unsigned, arbitration-eligible player.
However, there is no immediate urgency to resolve Aybar’s 2012 contract situation because the Angels are trying to secure the slick-fielding switch-hitter to a long-term deal. With Callaspo secured, the Angels now have 17 players under contract for $140 million next season. Their final 2012 payroll is expected to be in the $150-million range.
Callaspo, 28, is not the prototypical power-hitting third baseman that many Angels fans continue to clamor for, but he had a solid 2011 season, hitting .288 with a team-leading .366 on-base percentage, 23 doubles, six home runs, 54 runs and 46 runs batted in and playing solid defense.
The six-year veteran, acquired in a July, 2010, trade from Kansas City, has a .281 career batting average and .337 on-base percentage. He made $2 million last season.
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-- Mike DiGiovanna
Photo: Albert Callaspo. Credit: Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times