MLB deadline sets stage for potential arbitration case for Royals and Brady Singer
The Kansas City Royals reached deals to avoid salary arbitration with seven of their eighth remaining arbitration-eligible players on Friday, but an arbitration hearing remains a possibility for budding ace of the starting pitching rotation Brady Singer.
Friday afternoon marked the deadline for teams and arbitration-eligible players to either reach an agreement or exchange salary figures for the 2023 season.
The players are all under club control, so they’re not free agents nor can they sign with any other team. The arbitration process allows players to make their case for a specific salary figure for the upcoming season in front of a panel of arbitrators.
Although the sides may not have reached an agreement on salary prior to the deadline to exchange figures, they’re not required to go through the entire arbitration process. They can still agree upon a deal after exchanging figures and before a hearing takes place.
Relief pitcher Scott Barlow ($5.3 million), starting pitcher Kris Bubic ($2.2 million), relief pitcher Taylor Clarke ($1.15 million), relief pitcher Amir Garrett ($2.65 million), starting pitcher Brad Keller ($5.77 million), infielder Nicky Lopez ($3.7 million) and relief pitcher Josh Staumont ($1.025 million) each agreed to contracts and will avoid arbitration, The Star confirmed through a source.
The Royals had previously reached an agreement with shortstop Adalberto Mondesi to avoid salary arbitration earlier this winter.
Singer, 26, enters his first year of arbitration eligibility having turned in his best season in the majors in 2022.
Voted the Royals Pitcher of the Year by the KC chapter of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, Singer began the season in the bullpen and then was sent down to the minors before he became the anchor of the rotation this summer.
The former first-round draft pick made 24 starts and went 10-5 with a 3.11 ERA as a member of the rotation. For the season, Singer posted a 3.23 ERA in 153 1/3 innings over 27 appearances. That ERA was the fifth-best by a Royals pitcher with a minimum of 150 innings since 1995. He became the first Royals pitcher with at least 10 wins since Jason Vargas in 2017.
Last season, two Royals — outfielder Andrew Benintendi and Lopez — went to arbitration hearings with the Royals.
Those hearings took place during the season because of the altered league calendar due to the MLB owners having locked out the players last offseason.
Benintendi won his case and earned a salary of $8.5 million. Lopez lost his case and made a salary of $2.55 million in his first year of arbitration.
They were just the second and third players to go to arbitration against the Royals since 2006.
The last previous case to go through the full arbitration process between the Royals and a player came in 2018, when pitcher Brandon Maurer filed for a $3.5 million salary and the Royals ultimately won the hearing and Maurer made $2.95 million.
Former Royals star first baseman Eric Hosmer nearly took the club to a hearing in 2015, but he and the club reached a two-year deal to avoid arbitration after a hearing had already been scheduled.
