After announcing a two-year deal with shortstop/second baseman/outfielder/rover/token short person Alexi Amarista this morning, the Padres announced one year deals with their remaining 6 arbitration-eligible players. Veteran starting pitcher Ian Kennedy got the biggest payday. In his final season before free agency, he'll be pulling in $9.85 million (or, to put it another way, 0.463 Matt Kemp-bucks). Yonder Alonso, Dale Thayer, and Tyson Ross all wrapped up their first year of arbitration, while Andrew Cashner and recently-acquired reliever Shawn Kelley were second and third-year eligible, respectively.
Dennis Lin at the UT has all the numbers, and notes that the team currently has just under $89 million committed to 18 players. Those 18 players include the likes of Carlos Quentin, Josh Johnson, and Cory Luebke, so expect at least ten more guys on the Opening Day payroll, likely making the relative pittance of pre-arbitration. Of course, there's still time for A.J. Preller to get Cole Hamels and blow last year's numbers out of the water.