ellsbury
Jacoby Ellsbury had only 303 at-bats in 2012. Reuters

The Boston Red Sox avoided arbitration with Jacoby Ellsbury on Friday by signing the outfielder to a one-year deal worth $9 million.

Ellsbury receives a small raise from last season, when he earned $8.05 million. The 29-year-old played in just 74 games in 2012 and batted .271, to go along with four home runs and 14 stolen bases.

Ellsbury joined the Red Sox in 2007, and emerged into one of the best base stealers in the game. In 2009, he stole a career-best 70 bases, and has 189 career stolen bases in 581 games.

The Oregon native has also proven to be a strong bat at the top of the order after a prolific 2011 season when he finished second in the MVP race by batting .321, and hitting 32 home runs.

The Red Sox have been active in recent days. On Thursday, the club signed Mike Napoli to a one-year deal worth $5 million, but with incentives that could increase the amount to $13 million. The two sides had agreed to a three-year deal worth $39 million in December, but the Red Sox had spotted a hip issue with Napoli, which stalled the contract.

Boston also avoided salary arbitration with six other players on Friday by agreeing to one-year, non-guaranteed contracts with pitchers Afredo Aceves, Andrew Bailey, Daniel Bard, Joel Hanrahan, Andrew Miller, and Franklin Morales.