Twins avoid arbitration with Trevor Plouffe, 3 others

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) The Minnesota Twins agreed to one-year deals with third baseman Trevor Plouffe, left-hander Tommy Milone, right-hander Casey Fiend and infielder Eduardo Nunez on Friday that avoided arbitration.

Plouffe will earn $4.8 million next season after hitting .258 with 14 home runs and a team-leading 80 RBIs last season. Plouffe, who doubled his salary from last season of $2.35 million, announced earlier this week that his wife, Olivia, is pregnant with the couple's first child.

''It's been an exciting few days for us,'' Plouffe tweeted. ''We love being a part of the Twins family, (and) now our son will too!''

Milone went 0-1 with a 7.06 ERA after being acquired from Oakland in a trade. He will earn $2,775,000 next season. He made $510,000 last year and will go into spring training competing for the fifth spot in the rotation.

Fien will make $1,375,000 after going 5-6 with a 3.98 ERA in 73 relief appearances. He made $530,000 last season and has been one of the Twins' most dependable relievers over the last two-and-a-half years.

Nunez made $576,900 last year as the team's primary utility infielder and will make $1,025,000 in 2015.

The Twins still have players in arbitration who have yet to agree on deals: left-hander Brian Duensing and outfielder Jordan Schafer.

Duensing, a lefty specialist out of the bullpen, went 3-3 with a 3.31 ERA in 54 appearances last season. He has been with the Twins all six of his years and asked for a raise from $2 million to $3.1 million. Minnesota offered $2.4 million.

Schafer was claimed off waivers from the Atlanta Braves last August. He hit .285 with one homer, five doubles and 15 stolen bases in 41 games with the Twins, and asked for a jump from $1.09 million to $1.7 million. The Twins countered at $1.4 million.

The Twins haven't gone to an arbitration hearing with a player since Kyle Lohse in 2006. They still have time to avoid doing so with Duensing and Schafer if they can reach agreements before their hearings next month.