Texas Rangers Get Clearer Picture Of Arbitration Bill

The Texas Rangers made their final moves when it came to their non-tenders players on Friday, setting up the next step with arbitration-eligible players.

The tender deadline is when teams must submit pre-tender offers to players that are on their 40-man roster that don’t have contracts. These players are typically arbitration-eligible.

The Rangers had 10 arbitration-eligible players heading into the non-tender deadline. Now that it has passed, the Rangers have eight.

The Rangers non-tendered pitchers Matt Bush and Brett Martin on Friday.

Arbitration doesn’t begin until January 12, the deadline for arbitration figures to be exchanged. In most cases, teams will come to an agreement on a one-year salary, or an extension, before the deadline. The good news for the Rangers is that they haven’t been to an arbitration hearing since the 2000 offseason.

Recently, MLB Trade Rumors published its annual projections of what each Rangers player that is eligible for arbitration could receive.

The Rangers are facing a potential arbitration bill around $28 million, based on the figures below.

Nathaniel Lowe: $8.8MM
Jonathan Hernandez: $1.3MM
Jonah Heim: $3.6MM
Adolis Garcia: $6.6MM
Dane Dunning: $3.4MM
Brock Burke: $1.1MM
Josh Sborz: $900K
Leody Taveras: $2.4MM

Lowe was eligible for arbitration for the first time last offseason and agreed to a $4.050 million, one-year deal with the Rangers to avoid arbitration. He isn’t a free agent until after the 2026 season, so he has three years of arbitration left. Lowe slashed .262/.360/.414/.774 with 17 home runs and a career-high 82 RBI in 2023. He also improved defensively at first base.

Bush, Martin and Hernandez are also coming back to arbitration, but avoided going through the process last offseason.

Heim, Garcia, Dunning, Burke, Sborz and Taveras will be eligible for the first time. Garcia is coming off a career season at the plate in which he slashed .245/.328/.508/.836 with 39 home runs and 107 RBI, the latter two of which being career highs. Heim also had a career season, as he slashed .258/.317/.438/.755 with 18 home runs and 95 RBI.

Dunning started the season in the bullpen, but moved back into the rotation after the injury to Jacob deGrom and went 12-7 with a 3.70 ERA in the regular season.

Two Texas Rangers Relievers Are Free Agents

You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.

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