DENVER (AP) – Speedy outfielder Dexter Fowler has agreed to a $2.35 million, one-year contract with the Colorado Rockies to avoid arbitration.

The deal, completed Tuesday, gives Fowler a substantial raise from the $424,000 he earned last season.

Fowler has been a pitcher’s best friend patrolling center field, tracking down numerous fly balls into the deepest parts of spacious Coors Field. He also had a solid season at the plate after rebounding from a slow start, hitting .266 with five homers and 45 RBIs.

The switch-hitting Fowler had 15 triples in 2011 to break his own team mark.

On Sunday, the Rockies agreed to a one-year, $2,415,000 deal with outfielder Seth Smith to avoid arbitration. The team then turned around and traded him to the Oakland Athletics the next day for right-hander Guillermo Moscoso and lefty Josh Outman.

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