Coming off a first career All-Star season, Tony Gonsolin was among the arbitration-eligible players who was tendered a contract by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The group also included the likes of Yency Almonte, Walker Buehler, Caleb Ferguson, Brusdar Graterol, Dustin May, Evan Phillips, Will Smith, Trayce Thompson and Julio Urías.
With the deadline last week for teams and arbitration players to exchange salary figures, the Dodgers made plenty of progress in coming to terms on one-year contracts.
However, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, Gonsolin did not agree to a deal and filed for a $3.4 million salary while the Dodgers countered at $3 million:
Tony Gonsolin files at 3.4M, Dodgers at 3M
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 14, 2023
MLB Trade Rumors projected Gonsolin would receive a $3.5 million salary for this season. He is eligible for arbitration as a Super Two player.
Gonsolin and the Dodgers may continue negotiating after the deadline to exchange salary figures, but president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman historically has taken a “file and trial” approach. Exceptions have been Max Muncy, Chris Taylor, Austin Barnes and Buehler, as they each signed multi-year contract extensions to avoid an arbitration hearing.
The Dodgers have had just two arbitration hearings under Friedman, both of which came in 2020, when the team won their case over Joc Pederson but lost to Pedro Báez. Those were the first arbitration hearings for the Dodgers since winning against Joe Beimel in 2007.
Three-person panels will oversee arbitration hearings that start in late January and continue into February.
Tony Gonsolin qualified for MLB bonus program
Part of the collective bargaining agreement between MLB and the Players Association was the creation of a $50 million bonus pool.
A total of 100 players received bonuses for the 2022 season, which are accrued through the “Joint WAR” metric and placement in end-of-the-year awards voting. Gonsolin and Smith both qualified for bonuses stemming from performance last year.
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