SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Alec Bohm beat the Philadelphia Phillies in salary arbitration on Friday, clinching the players’ first winning record since 2019.
The third baseman and first baseman was given a $4 million salary rather than the team’s $3.4 million offer by Brian Keller, Jeanne Charles and John Stout, who heard arguments on Thursday.
The 27-year-old Bohm hit .274 last year while setting career highs with 20 homers and 97 RBIs. He had a $748,000 salary and was eligible for arbitration for the first time.
Players lead 8-6 with just one case remaining. Miami left-hander Tanner Scott was the final player scheduled for a hearing, asking for $5.7 million instead of the Marlins’ $5.15 million offer. A decision is expected Saturday from Robert Herman, John Woods and Allen Ponak.
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Scott, 29, was 9-5 with a 2.31 ERA and 12 saves in 16 chances last season, when he made $2,825,000. He is eligible for free agency after this year’s World Series.
The 15 hearings were down from 19 last year, when the clubs won 13, but up from 13 in 2022, when teams won nine. Players had a winning record for the first time since going 6-4 in 2019.
A total of 198 players were eligible for arbitration after the November deadline for teams to tender 2024 contracts to unsigned players on their 40-man rosters, and most reached agreements on Jan. 11, when teams and players exchanged proposed salaries. The highest deal was a $31 million, one-year contract between Juan Soto and the New York Yankees, who acquired the outfielder from San Diego in December.
Toronto All-Star first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. won a $19.9 million salary, the highest in an arbitration decision, when a panel picked his figure rather than the Blue Jays’ $18.05 million offer. That topped the previous high of $14 million for Seattle outfielder Teoscar Hernández after he lost his hearing last year.
Other winners this year were San Francisco third baseman J.D. Davis ($6.9 million vs. $6.55 million), Baltimore outfielder Austin Hays ($6.3 million vs. $5.85 million) and right-hander Jacob Webb ($1 million vs. $925,000), Los Angeles Angels outfielder Taylor Ward ($4.8 million vs $4.3 million), Houston infielder/outfielder Mauricio Dubón ($3.5 million vs. $3 million) and New York Mets right-hander Phil Bickford ($900,000 vs. $815,000).
Losers included Miami second baseman Luis Arraez ($10.6 million vs. $12 million) and center fielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. ($2,625,000 vs. $2.9 million), Tampa Bay outfielder Harold Ramírez ($3.8 million vs. $4.3 million) and right-hander Jason Adam ($2.7 million vs. $3.25 million), Los Angeles Angels left-hander José Suarez ($925,000 vs. $1.35 million) and Minnesota infielder/outfielder Nick Gordon ($900,000 vs. $1.25 million).
Adam, Arraez and Ramirez were trying to win for the second straight year. The last players to win hearings in consecutive years were Houston pitcher Collin McHugh in 2017 and ’18, and Cleveland pitcher Trevor Bauer in 2018 and 2019.
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