New York Yankees Face Arbitration Deadline For Soto, Torres
The New York Yankees made their deal for slugger Juan Soto. Now, the Yankees have to pay him.
Soto is one of 10 Yankees that are arbitration-eligible and the Yankees have until Jan. 12 to either get deals done with them or head to an arbitration hearing that would happen before Spring Training.
Soto is one of two Yankees that carry arbitration bills that could surpass eight figures, with Soto potentially due an estimated $29 million per Spotrac.com.
He can make a strong case should he go to an arbitration hearing, something the Yankees would like to avoid as it could impact their long-term prospects of keeping him.
Soto has been in the Top 10 of MVP voting four times, including a sixth-place finish in the National League in 2023. He earned those votes after he batted .275/.410/.519/.930 with 35 home runs and 109 RBI. He also went to the All-Star Game for the third time and played in every game of a season for the first time in his career.
The other big player the Yankees must deal with is infielder Gleyber Torres, who is also in his last year of arbitration and could net as much as $14 million.
Torres batted .273 last season with 25 home runs and 68 RBI. He is also in his last year of arbitration.
Two more outfielders that the Yankees acquired this offseason via trade are also eligible for arbitration — Alex Verdugo from the Red Sox and Trent Grisham, who came over with Soto from the San Diego Padres.
Verdugo could get more than $9 million while Grisham could get more than $5 million.
The rest of the arbitration-eligible Yankees include relief pitcher Clay Holmes, pitcher Nestor Cortes, pitcher Clarke Schmidt, catcher Jose Trevino, pitcher Jonathan Loaisiga and pitcher Victor Gonzalez.
