Teams and arbitration-eligible players had until 7:00 pm Central to agree to terms or exchange filing figures. The vast majority agreed to salaries, either this afternoon or before November’s non-tender deadline to ensure they were offered contracts at all.
There were 18 cases where team and player did not align — none bigger than the record $13MM gap between the Tigers and Tarik Skubal. Nothing formally prevents players and teams from continuing negotiations. However, virtually every team takes a “file-and-trial” approach to the process. Clubs will mostly refuse to continue talks about one-year deals after this date. They’ll often make exceptions for discussions involving multi-year contracts or one-year deals with a club/mutual option. It’s unlikely that all of these players will end up getting to a hearing, but the majority probably will.
If the sides go to a hearing, a three-person arbitration panel will either choose the player’s or the team’s filing figure. (Hearings will run between January 26 and February 13.) The arbitrators cannot pick a midpoint. That’s designed to prevent the parties from anchoring by filing at extremely high or low figures. Teams’ preferences for the file-and-trial approach follows a similar logic. The idea is to deter players from submitting a higher number from which they could continue to negotiate until the hearing begins.
Unless otherwise noted, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com and ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported all filing figures for those who didn’t reach agreements. The list of players who could go to a hearing this winter (service time in parentheses):
Angels
- Reid Detmers (3.159): Filed at $2.925MM, team filed at $2.625MM
Astros
- Isaac Paredes (4.160): Filed at $9.95MM, team filed at $8.75MM
- Yainer Diaz (3.035): Filed at $4.5MM, team filed at $3MM
Blue Jays
- Eric Lauer (5.091): Filed at $5.75MM, team filed at $4.4MM (first reported by Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet)
Braves
- Dylan Lee (3.150): Filed at $2.2MM, team filed at $2MM
Brewers
- William Contreras (4.112): Filed at $9.9MM, team filed at $8.75MM
Marlins
- Calvin Faucher (2.156): Filed at $2.05MM, team filed at $1.8MM
Mariners
- Bryce Miller (2.153): Filed at $2.625MM, team filed at $2.25MM
Nationals
- Cade Cavalli (2.141): Filed at $900K, team filed at $825K
Orioles
- Keegan Akin (5.083): Filed at $3.375MM, team filed at $2.975MM
- Kyle Bradish (3.160): Filed at $3.55MM, team filed at $2.875MM
Rays
- Edwin Uceta (2.150): Filed at $1.525MM, team filed at $1.2MM
Reds
- Tyler Stephenson (5.056): Filed at $6.8MM, team filed at $6.55MM
- Graham Ashcraft (3.130): Filed at $1.75MM, team filed at $1.25MM
Royals
- Kris Bubic (5.135): Filed at $6.15MM, team filed at $5.15MM
- Vinnie Pasquantino (3.101): Filed at $4.5MM, team filed at $4MM
Tigers
- Tarik Skubal (5.114): Filed at $32MM, team filed at $19MM
Twins
- Joe Ryan (4.033): Filed at $6.35MM, team filed at $5.85MM