A look at Phillies free agents and arbitration players originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The day after the World Series ends, a five-day window opens for teams to negotiate exclusively with their own free agents. Once the five days are up, players are free to register anywhere.
The Phillies’ two most notable free agents are Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estevez. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said earlier this month that the team was unlikely to retain both. They are each expected to enter into multi-year contracts with an average annual value of $12 million or more.
Spencer Turnbull will also be a free agent, but that’s it for the Phillies big leaguers.
The Phillies have nine players eligible for salary arbitration and the player most likely to fail to tender before the late November deadline is outfielder Austin Hays, who made $6.3 million last season and is reportedly heading towards a similar salary.
The other eight eligible for arbitration are Ranger Suarez, Alec Bohm, Bryson Stott, Brandon Marsh, Edmundo Sosa, Kolby Allard, Garrett Stubbs and Jose Ruiz.
Most players have three years of arbitration eligibility before hitting free agency, with some receiving an additional fourth year depending on length of service.
For Suarez and Hays, this is the final year of arbitration before free agency.
For Bohm, Sosa, Allard, Stubbs and Ruiz, it’s year 2 of 3.
For Stott and Marsh, it’s the first time.
Stott and Marsh will receive significant raises. They each made just under $770,000 last season and are projected to be between $3 million and $3.5 million through arbitration.
Suarez is expected to see his salary increase from $5.05 million last season to around $8 million, although the Phillies could also negotiate an extension.
Bohm’s $4 million salary starting in 2024 will likely be doubled.
Sosa was worth $1.7 million last year and should be closer to $3 million this time.
Ruiz will almost certainly remain an inexpensive, controllable reliever making less than $2 million.
Then there’s Allard and Stubbs, both of whom are reportedly looking at salaries in the $1 million range. They could be replaced at a lower number, especially if the Phillies move forward with Rafael Marchan as JT Realmuto’s backup catcher.
Teams and players must exchange arbitration figures by mid-January. Hearings take place in February, unless previously agreed. If the matter goes to arbitration, a panel rules in favor of either the player or the team.
The Phillies avoided arbitration with all of their eligible players last offseason except Bohm. They offered him $3.4 million, he countered $4 million and won. League-wide, last year was the first since 2019 where more players were successful than teams.
