Bucs Beat Walker In Arbitration

PITTSBURGH (93-7 The Fan) -- Neil Walker will make $2.25 million more than he did last season.

Not a bad raise – nearly 40 percent – for a local kid who is 29 years old and coming off a season in which he hit a career-high 23 home runs for the Pittsburgh Pirates. The long ball total also was a National League-best for second baseman.

Walker, though, was looking for a pay increase around 57 percent after being paid $5.75 million last season.

A team of arbitrators Saturday denied Walker's proposal for a $9 million 2015 salary, awarding him instead with a new $8 million salary, a victory for the Pirates.

Walker, a Pine-Richland graduate, has one year of arbitration eligibility remaining and can become a free agent following the 2016 campaign.

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