The Milwaukee Brewers and William Contreras are currently projected to go into an arbitration hearing in order to determine his 2026 salary. Contreras filed at $9.90 million, which would be a record high for a catcher in year two of arbitration, whereas Milwaukee filed at $8.55 million, which ties the previous high set by Will Smith.
While there’s no guarantee which way an arbitrator will lean, recent cases around the league suggest the system has been willing to reward elite players with massive paydays. Most notably, Tarik Skubal set a new arbitration record at $32.0 million, surpassing the previous highs of David Price’s $19.75 million for a pitcher and Juan Soto’s $31.0 million overall.
What made the Skubal case intriguing was Detroit’s filing at $19.0 million, a figure that didn’t even eclipse David Price’s previous high. While that may have seemed foolish on the surface, the Tigers technically only needed to convince the arbitrator that Skubal was worth even a dollar less than the middle point of $25.5 million, because in these hearings the arbitrator can only chose one salary or the other, there is no compromising.
While the gap between the Brewers and Contreras isn’t that large, in this case it means both sides are battling to prove their valuation falls on the right side of $9.225 million, the midpoint of the two filings.
Signs are pointing towards William Contreras winning an arbitration case against the Milwaukee Brewers
Right now, it looks like the odds of Contreras winning an arbitration case against the Milwaukee Brewers are trending in his favor. When comparing Contreras numbers to Smith at the same point in their careers, Contreras has the edge in hits (602 vs. 554), doubles (122 vs. 104), batting average (.273 vs. .258), on-base percentage (.357 vs. .350), stolen bases (23 vs. 10), single-season RBI (92 vs. 87), and single-season WAR (4.9 vs. 4.5). Additionally, Contreras has two All-Star appearances and a pair of Silver Slugger awards to his name.
Based on results from this years arbitration hearings, as well as Contreras’ production, consistency behind the plate, and standing among the league’s elite catchers, all these factors support that he should be rewarded with a record salary for catchers in arbitration.
Related: Brewers reporter reveals the harsh reality of “trusting the process”
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