Today marks the deadline for MLB teams to come to agreements with their arb-eligible players before a hearing is scheduled in the arbitration process. Over the course of today, many players, who are in the team control
portion of their careers and haven’t yet hit free agency, will come to agreements with clubs on what their salary will be for 2026. Teams and players are generally incentivized to make deals, as cases in the arbitration process can be brutal affairs that lead to hurt feelings.
A couple Yankees who are arbitration-eligible, Clarke Schmidt and Oswaldo Cabrera, have already come to terms with the team, while several more are likely still negotiating as we speak. The remaining active Yankees who are arbitration-eligible this year are second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr., shortstop Anthony Volpe, utilityman José Caballero, starting pitcher Luis Gil, and relievers David Bednar, Jake Bird, Fernando Cruz, and Camilo Doval.
With today being the deadline, we’re expecting most, and hopefully all, of these players to get something done. Even if they don’t, they can still get it settled before the actual scheduled hearing comes to pass. As this day goes along though, we’ll keep track on what’s done and who will get what salary in 2026.
The first bit of arbitration news we got was for Doval, a 2025 Trade Deadline pickup.
The Yankees acquired Doval from the Giants on July 31st, as they looked to remake their shaky bullpen. While Doval has had some very good seasons in his past, he was a bit of a miss for the Yankees in 2025, putting up a near-five ERA in his 22 games after the trade. He was better in late September and during his handful of appearances in the playoffs, so there’s hope that another year in the Yankees’ system and working with pitching coach Matt Blake will get Doval looking much more like the All-Star he’s been before.
More to come.
