Angels' Garrett Richards: Avoids arbitration

Richards (elbow) agreed to a one-year, $6.85 million contract with the Angels on Friday, avoiding arbitration, Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reports.

Analysis:

The right-hander missed the final five months of the 2016 season after being diagnosed with a torn UCL. He opted to forego Tommy John surgery and instead try stem-cell therapy. It sounds like Richards is on track to be ready for the start of the year, but manager Mike Scioscia has already said that Richards' pitch counts and innings workload will be monitored carefully.