Jhoulys Chacin's watershed moment appears to have arrived. A year after sparring with Rockies excutives over his weight and conditioning, Chacin impressed them with his recovery and performance following a pectoral injury, awarding the right-hander a two-year, $6.5 million contract, pending a physical.

The deal would leave one arbitration season before free agency following the 2014 season.

Chacin tweeted the news Saturday afternoon, which was confirmed by multiple major league sources.

The ability of the Rockies' rotation to rebound hinges largely on Chacin, the potential ace of the staff, and Jorge De La Rosa, who is the team's highest-paid player at $11 million. The Rockies hope that the security can push Chacin toward a career year, or at least return him to the promise shown two seasons ago.

In the conversation for an all-star berth through June of 2011, Chacin slumped horribly after developing forearm soreness. He went 3-13 with a 5.14 ERA over his next 21 starts before being optioned to Triple-A last May.

The move was rescinded when Chacin revealed a pectoral injury that created arm fatigue between innings, compromising his fastball velocity and location.

Through therapy, massage and gradual arm strengthening, Chacin returned successfully in September. A five-man rotation was reinstalled as Chacin went 3-2 with a 2.84 ERA in 44-plus innings.

Chacin had submitted a $2.6 million arbitration request with the club countering at $1.7 million. He's likely to make roughly the midpoint this season — $2.15 million.

Chacin's signing leaves Dexter Fowler as the lone arbitration player unsigned. Fowler, in his second year of arbitration as a former super two player in service time, asked for $5.15 million with the team at $4.25 million, leaving $4.7 million as the midpoint.

Troy E. Renck: 303-954-1294, trenck@denverpost.com or twitter.com/troyrenck