Friday marks Major League Baseball’s arbitration deadline, which means it’s the last day for arbitration-eligible teams and players to exchange salary numbers for the upcoming season.
As a reminder, players with three to six years of major league service time* are paid for or at least reported by salary arbitration. Referee salaries usually come out of negotiations between the team and the ARB-eligible player, but if an agreement cannot be reached, each side sends their salary number to the arbitration panel. Next, the committee chooses one or the other character – neither averages the two numbers given or draws a salary out of thin air for the player. This dynamic encourages serious negotiation, and explains why you won’t see ridiculous personality trade-offs by a player or team (if either party offers an unreasonable salary number, the committee will quickly choose the corresponding number).
Two-Way star Shohei Ohtani back in October sidestepped the process by agreeing to a one-year, $30 million deal for the next year. Not surprisingly, this is a record salary for an ARB-eligible player.
Most ARB-eligible players will agree to next season’s salaries before the deadline, and others will agree to terms before an arbitration hearing is set. Fewer will not come to an agreement with their teams and will actually participate in a hearing, but hearings can get contentious and confusing – in essence they ask teams to play down the achievements of the player in question – and both sides usually prefer to avoid that final step. This “model” qualification is important, as some clubs take a “file and court” approach, whereby they refuse to conduct further negotiations if deadline day does not result in an agreement. It should also be noted that for some high-profile ARB-eligible players, long-term extensions can arise from these conversations. That is, negotiations with ARB-eligible players do not You have
to yield a one-year agreement. Sometimes it can even result in nine-figure agreements that “buy” players’ remaining years and one or more free agent seasons.
Below we’ll track the notable signings on deadline day, led by one who fell just before the finish line on Friday. devers, red socks
team logo The Red Sox earlier this month stopped the trend of bleeding home starsSigning third baseman Rafael Devers to an 11-year, $331 million extension
. Devers was arbitration-eligible for a third year and set to become free agency after the 2023 season. Instead, he will wear a Boston uniform for years to come.
Devers, 26, hit .295/.358/.521 (141 OPS+) with 42 doubles, 27 homers, and a 4.4 WAR last season and made his second consecutive All-Star team. He’s already amassed nearly 3,000 hits in 689 regular season games since debuting at just 20 years old and has slashed .283/.342/.512 (124 OPS+) over that span. He led the AL with 54 doubles in 2019 and has two seasons of 30-plus homers, and a season over 100-RBI to his credit. soto, Padres
team logo Padres and superstar Juan Soto have agreed to a $23 million contract for 2023,ESPN reports . Soto was last season’s lead timeout, and in 153 games combined for the Padres and Citizens
He hit an MLB-leading 27 home runs and 135 walks. For his career, the 24-year-old has an OPS+ of 157 in the sky. Soto is set to become free agency after the 2024 season, which means another year of arbitration eligibility. The big question remains if the Padres will be able to sign him to a (record-breaking) long-term extension before he reaches free agency. What we do know is that no long-term agreement has been reached from Friday’s deadline.
team logo Closer Josh Hader and the Padres have agreed to a $14 million deal for 2023,Reporting by Robert Murray
. This is the arbitration record salary for a reliever. Growler struggled with righteousness Last season and in general he did worse after the trade to San Diego. However, starting in September andThrough the NLCS track for the Padres
Hader seemed to find his form—one that saw him save 132 games, reach a 156+ ERA in his career, strike out 563 batters in 332 1/3 innings pitched, and make four All-Star teams. The Roaring and Padres are no doubt hoping for more of that peak in his 29-year-old season.
team logo
- Sluggers Pete Alonso and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. both put on the title. New salary records for an arbitration-eligible first baseman at the level of their service time this offseason. Here are the records: A year of free agency: Jose Abreu $16 million with white stockings
- in 2019 Two years of free agency: Alonso’s house $14.5 million with metsin 2023 (per ESPN
- ) Three years of free agency: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. , $14.5 million with blue jaysin 2023 (in Sportsnet
)
Barring a catastrophic injury or unexpected performance breakdown, Vlad Jr. would break Alonso and Abreu’s salary records at those time-of-service levels in the years to come.
Home runs are the easiest way to get paid through arbitration and no player has hit more than 146 by Alonso since his MLB debut in 2019. He also has two All-Star Game selections and a Rookie of the Year award, which furthers the arbitration case. his own. Guerrero is very skilled at power management himself, plus he has two All-Star Game selections, a Gold Glove and an MVP to strengthen his case.
Other notables
- Here are some of the high-profile players who reportedly agreed to record one-year deals to avoid arbitration on Friday: Chris Baddack twins(Three years, $12.5 million extension
- ) Julio Urías, Dodgers($14.25 million
- ) Rhys Hoskins, Veles($12 million
- )Brandon Woodruff, Brewers ($10.8 million
- )Lucas Giolito, White Sox ($10.4 million
- ) Shane Pepper Guardians($10.01 million
- ) Jordan Montgomery, basics($10 million
- )Walker Puller, Dodgers ($8.025 million
- ) Framber Valdez, Astros($6.8 million
- )Stop Dylan, White Sox ($5.7 million
- ) Zach Galen, diamondbacks($5.6 million
- )Jack Flaherty, Cardinals ($5.4 million
- )Tyler O’Neal, Cardinals ($4.95 million
- )Rudy Tellez, Brewers ($4.95 million
- ) logan webb, giants($4.6 million
- ) Cedric Mullins Orioles($4.1 million
- )Gregory Soto, Phyllis ($3.925 million
- )Dustin May, Dodgers ($1.675 million
)
No agreement by the deadline to meMLB.com
- , 33 players were unable to come to terms with their teams before Friday’s deadline. This means that negotiations may continue or be closed prior to the hearing. Here are some of the most notable names:
- Luis Aries $6.1 million, The Twins $5 million
- Bo Bichette with $7.5 million, Blue Jays with $5 million
- Corbin Burns with $10.75 million, Brewers with $10.01 million
- Yandy Diaz with $6.3 million, Rice with $5.55 million
- Ceranthone Dominguez, $2.9 million, and Phyllis, $2.1 million
- Max Fried $15 million, Braves $13.5 million
- Ryan Helsley with $3 million, Cardinals with $2.15 million
- Teoscar Hernandez $16 million, Mariners $14 million
- Jeff McNeil $7.75 million, Mets $6.25 million
- Jaliber Torres $10.2 million, Yankees $9.7 million
Kyle Tucker $7.5 million, Astros $5 million