Houston shortstop Carlos Correa and Washington outfielder Mi

[panxing18]

ST. PETERSBURG , Fla. (AP) — lor became the first players of the year to go to salary arbitration hearings.Correa asked for a raise from $1 million to $5 million, and the Astros argued for $4.25 million during Thursday’s session before arbitrators Elizabeth Neumeier, James Oldham and Gary Kendellen.Taylor asked for a hike from $2.5 million to $3.5 million, and the Nationals countered with $3.25 million before arbitrators Mark Burstein, James Darby and Matt Goldberg.Decisions are expected Friday.Correa hit .239 with 15 homers and 65 RBIs last season, slowed by a bad back. He batted .315 with 24 homers and 84 RBIs in 2017, helping the Astros win their first World Series title.Taylor hit .227 with six homers and 28 RBIs last year, down from a .271 average with 19 homers and 53 RBIs in 2017.Eleven players remain scheduled for hearings through Feb. 15, including Astros right-handers Gerrit Cole and Chris Devenski, and Washington reliever Kyle Barraclough.Colorado third baseman Nolan Arenado avoided a hearing when he agreed Thursday at $26 million, the largest one-year contract for an arbitration-eligible player. He topped third baseman Josh Donaldson’s $23 million deal with Toronto last winter.Players won 12 of 22 hearings last year, their second winning record in three years but just their fourth since 1996. The 22 decisions were the most since players went 14-10 in 1990. NEW YORK (AP) Adam Jones chose to stay with the Baltimore Orioles, using his contractual right to block a trade from a team dealing veterans and going into a rebuilding mode.”It’s my decision. It’s my life,” Jones said following Tuesday night’s 6-3 loss to the New York Yankees. ”No one’s going to tell me what to do. I earned every single bit of it. People before me fought vigorously , tirelessly, to get rights like this.”Infielder Jonathan Schoop, and pitchers Kevin Gausman and Darren O’Day were the latest departures in the payroll purge ahead of Tuesday’s deadline for trades without waivers, joining Manny Machado, Zach Britton and Brad Brach among the jettisoned from a team that dropped to a major league-worst 32-75.A five-time All-Star who can become a free agent after the season, Jones for now chose to remain with the club where he’s spent the past 11 seasons. He said he doesn’t care about criticism of his decision.”Well here’s the thing about society, everyone thinks that they know what’s best for the next person,” the 32-year-old said. ”Now if someone wants to pay all my bills, trust me, they can tell me what to do. But until then, shut the hell up.”Baltimore acquired 14 prospects, one major leaguer and $2.75 million in international signing bonus allotment in exchange for six veterans. The Orioles cut nearly $29 million in payroll obligations for this year and next.Schoop had strolled into the visiting clubhouse at Yankee Stadium unsure whether he should suit up or stay in his street clothes. Signed by Baltimore at just 16 years old, Schoop played parts of six seasons with the club and was an All-Star last year, when he hit .293 with a career-high 32 home runs and 105 RBIs. He had regressed a bit this season , hitting .244 with 17 homers.”It’s difficult,” Schoop reflected. ”This is the team that gave me the chance.”The Orioles obtained $2.5 million in international bonus allotment from Atlanta for the pitchers and also received four prospects: right-hander Evan Phillips, infielder Jean Carlos Encarnacion, catcher Brett Cumberland and left-hander Bruce Zimmerman.”The overall talent that we got, we think we got some big leaguers from that group and we’ll continue to add to our talent base to develop our future teams here,” general manager Dan Duquette said.Baltimore acquired infielder Jonathan Villar along with a pair of minor leaguers from Milwaukee for Schoop, getting right-hander Luis Ortiz and infielder Jean Carmona. The Orioles raised their international signing bonus allotment to $8,273,500.”Villar is a very capable major league infielder who had a great year in 2016. That was an opportunity to add an infielder and then also some young talent, a young pitcher in Ortiz,” Duquette said. ”And we really like the switch-hitting shortstop, Carmona.”Although a bit melancholy about leaving the only organization he’s known, Schoop was looking forward to playing meaningful games down the stretch.”It’s exciting to go there into a pennant race,” Schoop said of the Brewers , who hold the NL’s top wild-card spot. ”They’re rolling right now.”The 27-year-old Gausman was also an O’s lifer, drafted fourth overall in 2012. He was 39-51 with a 4.22 ERA over six seasons.”We’re in a rebuild, obviously,” Gausman said. ”It’s kind of a sad day. You see the band kind of broken up.”The right-hander is going from the basement into the heat a pennant race, as well, a change he’s already embracing.”After talking to their GM, they felt real strongly about my presence,” Gausman said about the Braves, just a half-game out of first in the NL East.Baltimore began the sell-off on July 18 by sending Machado, a four-time All-Star, to the Los Angeles Dodgers for outfielder Yusniel Diaz, infielders Rylan Bannon and Breyvic Valera, and right-handers Dean Kremer and Zach Pop.Six days later the Orioles dealt Britton to the Yankees for right-handers Dillon Tate and Cody Carroll, and left-hander Josh Rogers. And on Sunday they traded Brach to the Braves for $250 ,000 of allotment.”If we played better we wouldn’t have to do this,” manager Buck Showalter said. ”I look at it as there’s a certain accountability for that.”The Orioles cut this year’s payroll by $20,077,929 with the deals of the six plus $9 million from 2019, and they added $836,290 for this year with Villar. The Orioles started with a $151 million payroll for their 40-man roster.Machado’s departure saved $6,365,591 from his $16 million salary, Britton’s $4,387,097 from his $12 million, Brach’s $1,749,435 from his $5 ,165,000, Gausman’s $1,836,559 from his $5.6 million, O’Day’s $2,951,613 of his $9 million and Schoop’s $2,787,634 of his $8.5 million. Schoop also has a guaranteed $9 million salary for next year.Villar is owed $836,290 from his $2.55 million salaryCarroll and Valera were brought up from Triple-A Norfolk for Tuesday’s game.—