NEW YORK – Francisco Lindor, Kris Bryant, Cody Bellinger and Corey Seager were among the 112 players who signed contracts for a year on Friday.
This left 13 players alone on the way to exchanging proposals for eventual wage arbitration, in what has been a setback for discreet transactions, following the financial havoc caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The agreements arose on the day the deadline expired for the players and clubs to exchange salary proposals for 2021.
Lindor, shortstop acquired last week by the New York Mets in Cleveland, won the largest of the deals, for $ 22.3 million. The Mets hope to sign a longer-term deal with Lindor, to prevent him from declaring himself a free agent at the end of the season.
The Puerto Rican has said he does not want the talks to extend beyond next month, when the preseason will begin.
Bryant reached a $ 19,500,000 deal with the Chicago Cubs. He can also declare – free agent after the campaign – for a day he was not eligible for it at the conclusion of the 2020 season.
The antecedent lost an appeal of dissatisfaction that he filed in the past recess between campaigns. He then argued that the Puppies postponed their promotion to the majors as a rookie in 2015, to postpone for a year the time when he could declare himself a free agent.
Bellinger and Seager got big boosts, after helping the Los Angeles Dodgers win their first World Series scepter since 1988. Bellinger, a gardener and first baseman, reached an agreement for $ 16.1 million. Seager, the most valuable player in the National League Championship Series and the Fall Classic, agreed to 13,750,000.
Aaron Judge, a New York right fielder whose injuries affected him for the second season in a row, secured a $ 10,175,000 contract.
Among the players who plan to attend hearings, the most prominent is the Puerto Rican Carlos Correa. The Houston Stars torpedo boat called for an $ 8 million increase to $ 12.5 million, while Houston has put $ 9,750,000 on the table.
Dansby Swanson, Atlanta shortstop, was the other player to ask for more than $ 5 million. He applied for 6,750,000, and was offered 6 million.
Another Braves player, pitcher Mike Soroka, wants 2.8 million, while the offer stands at 3,250,000.
Two members of the Dodgers monarchs would go to the hearings. Ace Walker Buehler asked for 4,150,000 and was offered 3.3 million. Receiver Austin Barnes demands 2 million, against an offer of 1.5 million.
Among the Rays, American League champions, first baseman Ji-Man Choi requested $ 2.45 million, but was offered $ 1,850,000. Relief Ryan Yarbrough wants 3,100,000 and the club raised 2.3 million.
Shohei Ohtani, pitcher and goaltender for the Los Angeles Angels, saw his average drop to 190 with the woodwork and threw a total of one inning and a third, after undergoing Tommy John surgery. He asked for 3.3 million, and was offered 2.5 million.
They also exchanged offers from the Mets and forward JD Davis (2.47 vs. 2.1 million), Baltimore and Venezuelan Anthony Santander (2.47 vs. 2.1 million), St. Louis and Law Jack Flaherty (3.9 vs. 3 million) and Colombian middleman Donovan Solano (3.9 vs. 3,250,000).
For players who do not reach an agreement, hearings before a three-member arbitration panel will be held virtually from 1 to 19 February.