Bill Batterman is the After it initially looked as if the Brewers and Junior Spivey were headed for an arbitration hearing, the two sides reached an agreement this week that will allow the second-baseman to earn up to $2.6 million this season, the number Spivey had requested. The contract will pay a base salary of $2.125 million, a slight decrease from the $2.367 million he earned in 2004 and a slight increase over the $2 million that Milwaukee originally offered. Spivey can earn an additional $475,000 based on a system of escalating incentives based on playing time.
The 30-year-old was limited to just 59 games in 2004 because of injuries. After missing time with a strained hamstring in May, Spivey went down for good with a subluxation of his left shoulder in early July when he dove into first-base. When healthy, the former-Diamondback hit .272 with a .359 on-base average, seven homers, and a 780 OPS. It was the second consecutive year that Spivey missed significant time with injury; in 2003 while in Arizona, he appeared in just 106 games because of an torn ankle ligament.