NEW YORK (AP) — Two-time AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal asked for a record $32 million in salary arbitration on Thursday while the Detroit Tigers offered the left-hander $19 million.
Skubal was the most prominent of the 166 players eligible for arbitration at the start of the day who swapped figures with their teams. Those without agreements face hearings before a three-person panels from Jan. 26 to Feb. 13 in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Toronto first
baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has the highest salary in an arbitration case decided by a panel, winning at $19.9 million in 2024. Colorado third baseman Nolan Arenado submitted a record request of $30 million in 2019, then agreed to a $260 million, eight-year contract.
Juan Soto's $31 million contract with the New York Yankees in 2024 is the largest one-year deal for an arbitration-eligible player and David Price has the highest negotiated salary in a one-year contract for an arbitration-eligible pitcher, a $19.75 million agreement with Detroit in 2015.
A two-time All-Star, the 29-year-old Skubal will be eligible for free agency after the World Series. He is 54-37 with a 3.08 ERA in six major league seasons.
Skubal was 13-6 with an AL-best 2.21 ERA in 31 starts last year, striking out 241 and walking 33 in 195 1/3 innings while earning $10.5 million. His 0.891 WHIP topped qualified pitchers.
Among those striking deals were Seattle outfielder Randy Arozarena ($15.65 million), Cincinnati right-hander Brady Singer ($12.75 million), Baltimore outfielder Taylor Ward ($12,175,000), Philadelphia left-hander Jesús Luzardo ($11 million), Seattle right-hander Logan Gilbert (($10,927,000), Toronto outfielder Daulton Varsho ($10.75 million), and New York Yankees infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Philadelphia third baseman Alec Bohm (both $10.2 million).
Teams went 5-4 in hearings last winter, leaving clubs with a 358-270 advantage since arbitration started in 1974.
All agreements for arbitration-eligible players are guaranteed but deals that go to panel decisions are not.
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