NEW YORK – Juan Soto, Pete Alonso and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. reached big deals on one-year contracts as 170 players avoided a salary arbitration on Friday and exchanged 33 proposed numbers with their teams.
All-star pitcher Max Fried and the Atlanta Braves were heading for a hearing for the second straight year, while Toronto shortstop Bo Bichette and Houston outfielder Kyle Tucker were furthest from their clubs, at $7.5 million each -dollars demanded while her team bid $5 million.
Seattle outfielder Teoscar Hernández, who was acquired by the Blue Jays in a trade, asked for $16 million and was offered $14 million.
AL batting champion Luis Arraez was the only eligible Minnesota player not to settle, asking $6.1 million while the Twins bid $5 million. NL batting champion Jeff McNeil was the only New York Mets player headed to a hearing and requested $7.75 million while the team proposed $6.25 million.
Fried received $6.85 million last year instead of Atlanta’s $6.6 million offer. This time he asked for $15 million while the Braves bid $13.5 million.
Seven Tampa Bay players were on their way to hearings, including reliever Colin Poche. He asked for $1.3 million and was offered $1,175,000 in the smallest gap.
Three players each from Seattle and the Los Angeles Angels were on their way to hearings.
Soto got a $23 million deal with San Diego tied for the fourth-highest one-year contract among players eligible for arbitration. Shohei Ohtani set the record when the two-way star signed a $30 million contract with the Los Angeles Angels last fall.
Soto was also behind Mookie Betts ($27 million with Boston in 2020) and Nolan Arenado ($26 million with Colorado in 2019), and he matched Josh Donaldson’s $23 million with Toronto in 2018. Soto turned down an offer of $440 million for 15 years from Washington last summer before being traded to the Padres may become a free agent after the 2024 World Series.
In addition to his deal with the star outfielder, San Diego scored Josh Hader on a one-year, $14.1 million contract, the highest salary for an arbitration-eligible relief pitcher.
The big-spending Mets struck a $14.5 million deal with Alonso, who hit 40 homers last season and took the major league lead with 131 RBIs. The first baseman nearly doubled his $7.4 million salary.
Guerrero, runner-up in the 2021 AL MVP vote, agreed to the same number with Toronto, the first baseman to increase his $7.9 million salary.
Left-hander Julio Urías settled $14.25 million with the Los Angeles Dodgers, first baseman Rhys Hoskins with NL champions Philadelphia $12 million, outfielder Ian Happ with the Chicago Cubs $10.85 million, and right-hander Brandon Woodruff with Milwaukee with $10.8 million.
Right-hander Lucas Giolito settled with the Chicago White Sox for $10.4 million, two-time All-Star right-hander Shane Bieber with Cleveland for $10.01 million, left-hander Jordan Montgomery with St. Louis for $10 million and the Right-hander Walker Buehler with the Los Angeles Dodgers at $8,025,000.
Minnesota right-hander Chris Paddack, who was recovering from surgery at Tommy John in May, was the only player to agree to a multi-year deal. He inked a three-year, $12.5 million deal, said a person familiar with the negotiations, who spoke on condition of anonymity because it was a successful physical exam. Paddack will be paid $2.5 million each for the next two seasons and $7.5 million in 2025.
Arguments before three-person panels will be held in St. Petersburg, Fla., from Jan. 30 to Feb. 17 for players and teams not making deals. These are the first personal hearings since 2020, just before the pandemic.
For three straight years since salary arbitration began in 1974, teams have won the majority of decisions, leading players 334-251.
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