The high-flying, high-spending Philadelphia Phillies have a few money moves to make this offseason. They've already extended a qualifying offer to Aaron Nola and all but decided to let go of Rhys Hoskins, and their attentions will be turning toward their arbitration-eligible players ahead of the non-tender deadline. Will they let any of them go, or will they dig into their very deep pockets and spend the money it takes to keep them? From key dates to players who will be negotiating this offseason, here is a quick guide to the Phillies arbitration and non-tendering.
Key MLB salary arbitration dates
- Jan. 12: Teams and players must present salary figures to each other by this date. They can agree on a number anytime before Jan. 29 in order to avoid arbitration hearings.
- Jan. 29 - Feb. 6: Arbitration hearings take place between teams and players who haven't reached a salary agreement.
Players become eligible for arbitration when they have three years of MLB service time and are eligible until their sixth year, during which time they can negotiate their salaries with their teams. Both the player and his team have to present offers by Jan. 12, and arbitration hearings take place between Jan. 29 and Feb. 6 if a number is not agreed upon. In a hearing, a group of arbitrators side with either the player's or the team's number. If a team isn't interested in keeping a player, he can be traded in lieu of given a contract, or he can be non-tendered.
Super Two arbitration eligibility is an exception to the usual arb-eligible rule. If a player with less than three years of MLB time is in the top 22% of service time of all players who have served 2-3 years, he becomes Super Two eligible.
Which Phillies are eligible for arbitration?
Ranger Suarez
Alec Bohm
Gregory Soto
Jeff Hoffman
Jake Cave
Edmundo Sosa
Dylan Covey
Garrett Stubbs
All of the Phillies players eligible for arbitration this year should expect a raise if they are retained by the team, including and especially Ranger Suarez and Alec Bohm, who easily earned a few extra million dollars based on their performances this season. Spotrac estimates an extra almost $3 million for Suarez and $4 million for Bohm, which are drops in the bucket for Philadelphia, who are projected to spend well over the luxury tax ceiling of $237 million next season and pay over $60 million to Bryce Harper and Trea Turner alone. They have already extended a qualifying offer to ace Aaron Nola but are expected to lose all five of their free agents, which would allow more money to go to their arb-eligible players.
When is the non-tender deadline?
The deadline for clubs to non-tender a player is Nov. 17, after which time he becomes a free agent. Last year, the Phillies retained all of their arbitration eligible players, but MLB Trade Rumors predicts that Garrett Stubbs, Edmundo Sosa, Jake Cave, and Dylan Covey could all be non-tendered this year.
Which Phillies have been non-tendered?
Ahead of the Nov. 17 deadline, the Phillies non-tendered Josh Fleming.