Milwaukee Brewers catcher William Contreras was the beneficiary of an additional $813,344 thanks to Major League Baseball’s pre-arbitration bonus pool. This extra sum of money is more than double his 2023 salary in which his pre-arbitration salary a season ago was $739,000.
What is the pre-arbitration bonus pool?
Under the new collective bargaining agreement $50 million was put into a pool as a way for pre-arbitration players to earn “bonus” money. Players receive higher amounts from the pool based on escalators such as MVP voting, Cy Young voting, rookie of the year voting, and All-MLB team awards. The remainder of the money after that was allocated out based on WAR.
How did Milwaukee Brewers catcher William Contreras fare against other players who received substantial amounts of money from the pre-arbitration pool?
William Contreras’ extra $813,344 ranked as the 12 highest amount given out. Julio Rodriguez took home the most extra money at $1.87 million, Corbin Carroll was second at $1.81 million, and Adley Rutschman third at $1.79 million. Other players who received a one million pay day include Spencer Strider, Justin Steele, Kyle Bradish, Felix Bautista, Gunnar Henderson, Jonah Heim, and Tanner Bibee.
William Contreras remains in pre-arbitration for one more season. After 2024 he will enter the arbitration years of team control and he will no longer be eligible to receive money out of the bonus pool. Regardless this pre-arbitration bonus pool was a creative way for younger players to earn additional money and to be rewarded for their play on the field.
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