Brewers, Fielder ink 1-year, $15M contract

MILWAUKEE, Jan. 18 (UPI) -- The Milwaukee Brewers and first baseman Prince Fielder avoided arbitration and agreed to a one-year, $15 million contract, the team announced Tuesday.

The deal is the richest single-season contract in the history of the sport for a non-free agent player in arbitration, beating the $12.5 million paid by the Atlanta Braves to Mark Teixeira two years ago, MLB.com reported.

Fielder will also earn the most ever paid to a Brewers player in a single season.

The slugger is in the last year of his Milwaukee contract and was set for free agency after this season. He batted .261 last season with 32 home runs and 83 RBI.

"I'm very happy we were able to get the deal done, and now all of that's taken care of," Fielder said told the Web site. "I really wasn't thinking of all the scenarios too much. I'm just happy it's done now and I can go play baseball."

Milwaukee also announced it had avoided arbitration with left-handed pitcher Manny Parra, agreeing with him on a $1.2 million, one-year deal Tuesday.