Red Sox must file arbitration numbers by Friday

Left fielder Andrew Benintendi is coming off a season in which he hit .266 with 13 homers. file/barry chin

By Alex Speier, The Boston Globe

January 9, 2020

2 minutes to read

Friday marks a significant procedural day on baseball’s offseason calendar, as teams and arbitration-eligible players exchange salary numbers to be used in potential arbitration hearings.

Most teams — including the Red Sox — take a file-and-trial approach, meaning that if the sides are unable to reach an agreement by 1 p.m., they will proceed to an arbitration hearing to debate whether a player is more deserving of the salary that he proposes or the one filed by the team. As such, Friday represents an unofficial deadline for reaching agreements before going to a potentially contentious process.

The Red Sox have yet to reach agreements on 2020 salaries for seven arbitration-eligible players on their 40-man roster: outfielders Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr., and Andrew Benintendi; lefthander Eduardo Rodriguez; and righthanded relievers Brandon Workman, Matt Barnes, and Heath Hembree. All of those players are under contract, but their earnings for this year will be determined either through mutual agreement by Friday or by a panel of arbitrators.

Of those players, Benintendi is the only one who is arbitration-eligible for the first time, having surpassed three years of big league service time in 2019. Hembree and Barnes are arbitration-eligible for the second time, Rodriguez and Betts for the third time, and Bradley and Workman for a fourth time.

Betts, after making $20 million in 2019 — a record for a player who was arbitration-eligible for a second time — is expected to set another record for an arbitration-eligible player, surpassing the $26 million that third baseman Nolan Arenado got from the Rockies last winter before reaching a long-term deal with Colorado.

MLBTradeRumors.com projects Betts to receive a $27.7 million salary in 2020, though in past years, he has surpassed the website’s estimates.

Bradley is projected by the website to receive $11 million, and Rodriguez — coming off his sixth-place Cy Young finish — is projected at $9.5 million.

With the program

The Red Sox announced that 12 prospects, headlined by corner infielder Bobby Dalbec (who finished the year in Triple A) and righthander Bryan Mata (who finished the year in Double A), will participate in their Rookie Development Program next week.

Other scheduled participants include outfielders Jarren Duran and Marcus Wilson; infielders Jonathan Arauz and C.J. Chatham; lefthanders Yoan Aybar (a reliever) and Kyle Hart; and righthanders Thad Ward, Tanner Houck, Durbin Feltman, and Robinson Leyer.

All of those players except for Arauz (a Rule 5 selection from the Astros who must stay on the big league roster all year or be offered back to Houston) concluded the 2019 season in the Red Sox organization. Dalbec, Chatham, Wilson, Aybar, and Hart all were added to the 40-man roster this winter.

Travis clearsFirst baseman/left fielder Sam Travis, who was designated for assignment last week to open a 40-man roster spot for the signing of catcher Kevin Plawecki, cleared outright waivers and was assigned to Triple A Pawtucket. Travis, who is out of minor league options, has hit .230/.288/.371 with 7 homers in 111 big league games over the last three years.