Soto, Alonso, Guerrero get big deals, 33 head to arbitration

Published on Saturday, January 14, 2023 | 12:55 p.m

Updated 0 milliseconds ago

NEW YORK (AP) – Juan Soto, Pete Alonso and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. reached big-money deals on one-year contracts after 170 players avoided salary arbitration by agreement Friday and 33 traded proposed figures with their teams.

All-Star shortstop Max Fried and the Atlanta Braves were headed to a hearing for the second straight year, while Toronto shortstop Bo Bichette and Houston shortstop Kyle Tucker were further away from their clubs, each asked $7.5 million while their team offered $5 million. .

Seattle outfielder Teoscar Hernández, acquired in a trade from the Blue Jays, asked for $16 million and was offered $14 million.

AL shortstop Luis Arraez was the only Minnesota player who didn’t agree, asking $6.1 million while the Twins offered $5 million. NL hitting champion Jeff McNeil was the only New York Mets player on track for a hearing, asking $7.75 million while the team proposed $6.25 million.

Fried was paid $6.85 million last year instead of Atlanta’s $6.6 million offer. This time, he asked for $15 million after the Braves offered $13.5 million.

Seven Tampa Bay players were headed 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 track for hearings.

Soto received a $23 million deal with San Diego, tied for the fourth-highest one-year contract among arbitration-eligible players. Shohei Ohtani set the record when the two-way star agreed to a $30 million contract with the Los Angeles Angels last fall.

Soto also passed 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, who turned down an offer from $440 million over 15 years from Washington last summer before being traded to the Padres, can become a free agent after the 2024 World Series.

In addition to the star outfielder deal, San Diego also reached a $14.1 million, one-year deal with Josh Hader, the largest salary for an arbitration-eligible relief pitcher.

The high-spending Mets reached a $14.5 million deal with Alonso, who hit 40 homers and tied for the major league lead with 131 RBIs last season. The first baseman nearly doubled his $7.4 million salary.

Guerrero, second in AL MVP voting in 2021, agreed to the same figure with Toronto, the first player to increase his salary from $7.9 million.

Left-hander Julio Urías settled with the Los Angeles Dodgers for $14.25 million, first baseman Rhys Hoskins with NL champion Philadelphia for $12 million, shortstop Ian Happ with the Chicago Cubs for $10.85 million and right-hander Brandon Woodruff for $108 million.

Right-hander Lucas Giolito agreed to terms with the Chicago White Sox for $10.4 million, two-time All-Star righty Shane Bieber with Cleveland for $10.01 million, lefty Jordan Montgomery with St. Louis. Louis at $10 million and righty Walker Buehler. with the Los Angeles Dodgers at $8,025,000.

Minnesota right-hander Chris Paddack, recovering from Tommy John surgery in May, was the only player to agree to a multiyear contract. He took a three-year, $12.5 million deal, said a person familiar with the negotiations, speaking on condition of anonymity because it was subject to a physical success. Paddack gets $2.5 million in each of the next two seasons and $7.5 million in 2025.

For players and teams that fail to reach an agreement, arguments before three-person panels will be scheduled from January 30 to February 17 in St. Petersburg, Florida. They will be the first in-person sessions since 2020, just before the pandemic.

Teams have won the majority of decisions three years in a row and lead players 334-251 since salary arbitration began in 1974.

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