Phillies, Cole Hamels Agree to 3-Year, $20.5M Deal. Avoid Arbitration

 Cole Hamels reached a 3-year/$20.5M dealwith the Phillies today, making it the highestannual avg. salary for a stating pitcher in his first year salary arbitration.Friday, it was Greg Dobbs. Today, it is NLCS and World Series MVP, Cole Hamels. The Phillies, who see the largest number of players in salary arbitration this year, have reached an agreement with Hamels for a three-year, $20.5 million deal. ESPN's Jayson Stark reports that the contract will pay Hamels $4.35 million this year, $6.65 million in 2010 and $9.5 million in 2011. If Hamels wins the Cy Young Award, his base salary would increase by $500,000 the following season. If he places second or third in the Cy Young voting, the contract would increase by $250,000 in the following season. It is the largest annual average for a starting pitcher in his first year of salary arbitration (Hamels is considered a “Super-Two” with 2.143 ML service time, fourth lowest in this year’s salary arbitration class). The signing ...