Report: Cubs, Arrieta reach one-year deal worth $15.64M

The Chicago Cubs will enter 2017 with one of their prized arms officially under contract.

The team avoided arbitration with right-hander Jake Arrieta, reportedly coming to terms on a one-year, $15.64-million deal according to Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports.

The 2015 NL Cy Young winner is coming off a season in which he failed to build off his elite performances of the past two years, despite winning 18 games for the World Series champion Cubs.

The 30-year-old struggled for most of the second half of the season, combining to a 3.69 ERA in his final 13 starts, compared to a much more Arrieta-like 2.68 ERA he accumulated in the first half. His strikeouts also went down significantly from 9.5 K/9 to a modest 7.5 K/9 in the later half.

The one-year commitment should benefit both the Cubs and the player in this case, as Arrieta will have a chance to redeem himself in 2017 with a strong performance as he is set to become a free agent next offseason.