If you go on Twitter today and see a lot of contracts, it’s normal: players and teams exchange offers for guys eligible for arbitration.
That said, many players will avoid arbitration and settle directly with their team. In the end, very few players will go before a referee.
For those who want to follow everything live, I invite you to follow the following link. It’s all in one easy place.
At the Blue Jays, for example, several cases have already been settled at the time of this writing. Daulton Varsho ($3.05m) and Cavan Biggio ($2.8m) have also since settled their cases.
It’s often just paperwork for contracts that aren’t surprises. But interestingly, the San Diego Padres made history twice today.
First, the fact of offering a contract of $ 14.1 million to Josh Hader is historic because previously, a reliever had never been entitled to such an amount when he was eligible for arbitration.
The highest-paid reliever is Edwin Diaz ($20.4 million per year), but he got his contract when he was eligible for free agency. In Hader’s case, it doesn’t change the fact that he’s eligible for free range in a year.
And second, Juan Soto signed a one-year, $23 million contract with the Padres.
You will tell me that some players have already done better than him… and it’s true. In fact, four players have already done better than him (or equal to him) by being eligible for arbitration.
Which?
- Shohei Ohtani: $30 million
- Mookie Betts: $27 million
- Nolan Arenado: $26 million
- Josh Donaldson: $23 million
The difference? Next year, Soto will not be free as air. The four guys named above have all obtained such an amount at about ten months of autonomy.
Soto should therefore charge nearly $30 million next year. Will he overtake Shohei Ohtani? The question can really arise.
Last year, Soto was entitled to $17.1 million.
That’s not stopping the Padres from signing him long-term if they want. Recall that Devers had signed a $17.5 million contract for the 2023 season before signing his long-term extension.
