The deadline for players and teams to exchange arbitration figures passed on Friday afternoon and 34 players remain unsigned. Arbitration hearings will begin on February 1, so these 34 players still have time to reach an agreement with their respective teams.
Hearings typically favor teams. Six of 14 players (43 percent) won their hearings last year. The 14 cases was a high-water mark since 2001 and a significant increase over the three cases in 2014.
Here’s a list of all of the players along with their requested salaries, their teams’ counter offers, the differences, and the midpoints. Clicking on the word “Link” will take you to the source of the information in a given row. All salary figures are in millions.
| Player | Pos | Team | Player $ | Team $ | Diff. | Midpoint | Source |
| A.J. Pollock | OF | ARI | $3.900 | $3.650 | $0.250 | $3.775 | Link |
| Brian Matusz | RP | BAL | $4.400 | $3.500 | $0.900 | $3.950 | Link |
| Zach Britton | RP | BAL | $7.900 | $5.600 | $2.300 | $6.750 | Link |
| Junichi Tazawa | RP | BOS | $4.150 | $2.700 | $1.450 | $3.425 | Link |
| Robbie Ross | RP | BOS | |||||
| Jake Arrieta | SP | CHC | $13.000 | $7.500 | $5.500 | $10.250 | Link |
| J.J. Hoover | RP | CIN | $1.400 | $1.225 | $0.175 | $1.313 | Link |
| Charlie Blackmon | OF | COL | $3.900 | $2.700 | $1.200 | $3.300 | Link |
| D.J. LeMahieu | 2B | COL | $3.300 | $2.800 | $0.500 | $3.050 | Link |
| J.D. Martinez | OF | DET | $8.000 | $6.000 | $2.000 | $7.000 | Link |
| Evan Gattis | C/OF | HOU | $3.850 | $3.000 | $0.850 | $3.425 | Link |
| Jason Castro | C | HOU | $5.250 | $5.000 | $0.250 | $5.125 | Link |
| Lorenzo Cain | OF | KC | $7.850 | $5.000 | $2.850 | $6.425 | Link |
| Mike Moustakas | 3B | KC | $7.000 | $4.200 | $2.800 | $5.600 | Link |
| Garrett Richards | SP | LAA | $7.100 | $5.300 | $1.800 | $6.200 | Link |
| Kole Calhoun | OF | LAA | $3.900 | $2.350 | $1.550 | $3.125 | Link |
| Kevin Jepsen | RP | MIN | $5.400 | $5.050 | $0.350 | $5.225 | Link |
| Plouffe, Trevor | 3B | MIN | $7.950 | $7.000 | $0.950 | $7.475 | Link |
| Jenrry Mejia | RP | NYM | $2.595 | $2.345 | $0.250 | $2.470 | Link |
| Jeurys Familia | RP | NYM | $4.800 | $3.300 | $1.500 | $4.050 | Link |
| Lucas Duda | 1B | NYM | $7.400 | $5.900 | $1.500 | $6.650 | Link |
| Neil Walker | 2B | NYM | $11.800 | $9.400 | $2.400 | $10.600 | Link |
| Aroldis Chapman | RP | NYY | $13.100 | $9.000 | $4.100 | $11.050 | Link |
| Didi Gregorius | SS | NYY | $2.525 | $2.300 | $0.225 | $2.413 | Link |
| Nathan Eovaldi | SP | NYY | $6.300 | $4.900 | $1.400 | $5.600 | Link |
| Ivan Nova | SP | NYY | $4.600 | $3.800 | $0.800 | $4.200 | Link |
| Brandon Belt | 1B | SFG | $7.500 | $5.300 | $2.200 | $6.400 | Link |
| George Kontos | RP | SFG | $1.350 | $0.850 | $0.500 | $1.100 | Link |
| Drew Smyly | SP | TB | $3.750 | $3.200 | $0.550 | $3.475 | Link |
| Jake Diekman | RP | TEX | $1.550 | $0.975 | $0.575 | $1.263 | Link |
| Mitch Moreland | 1B | TEX | $6.000 | $4.675 | $1.325 | $5.338 | Link |
| Shawn Tolleson | RP | TEX | $3.900 | $2.600 | $1.300 | $3.250 | Link |
| Jesse Chavez | SP | TOR | $4.000 | $3.600 | $0.400 | $3.800 | Link |
| Josh Donaldson | 3B | TOR | $11.800 | $11.350 | $0.450 | $11.575 | Link |
The two cases that stand out are Jake Arrieta and Aroldis Chapman. Arrieta, the defending National League Cy Young Award winner, filed for $13 million while the Cubs countered at $7.5 million. It’s a pretty stark difference of opinion. As Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune reported earlier, neither side is worried much about the gap.
Arrieta received 17 of 30 first place votes in NL Cy Young balloting. He went 22-6 with a 1.77 ERA and a 236/48 K/BB ratio in 229 innings. He led the majors in wins, complete games (four), and shutouts (three).
Chapman, the Yankees’ new closer, filed for $13.1 million while the Yankees countered at $9 million. Friday was a good day for closers, as Trevor Rosenthal got $5.6 million from the Cardinals in his first year of arbitration eligibility, Mark Melancon got $9.65 from the Pirates in his final year, and Kenley Jansen got $10.65 million from the Dodgers in his final year. This past season, Chapman saved 33 games with a 1.63 ERA and a 116/33 K/BB ratio in 66 1/3 innings. MLB Trade Rumors projected Chapman to take home $12.9 million so it wouldn’t be shocking to see him win his case against the Yankees.
