"The Red Sox avoided salary arbitration on Saturday night with right-hander Daniel Bard by agreeing to a one-year contract worth $1.6125 million. This according to MLB.com beat writer Ian Browne.

Bard requested $1.825 million and was offered $1.4 million when arbitration figures were exchanged on Tuesday. It took less than a week for his agent and the Red Sox front office to find a middle ground."