The Arizona Diamondbacks have agreed to one-year contracts with all nine of their arbitration-eligible players. These are the salaries for the nine players, sorted by service time, per Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic:
- 1B Josh Naylor (5.127): $10.9 million
- RHP Zac Gallen (5.100): $13.5 million
- LHP A.J. Puk (4.124): $2.95 million
- RHP Ryan Thompson (4.095): $2.965 million
- RHP Kevin Ginkel (4.033): $2.445 million
- LHP Joe Mantiply (4.029): $1.7 million
- LHP Kyle Nelson (3.076): $825K
- SS Geraldo Perdomo (3.015): $2.55 million
- 1B/OF Pavin Smith (3.015): $1.5 million
Salary arbitration is a collectively bargained right in which players with 3-5 years of service can negotiate their salary with the team. There is a notable exception for players with two years, as long as they're in the Top 20% of their year, known as "Super Two." The cutoff for 2025 was two years and 132 days of service time, with outfielder Jake McCarthy (2.124) missing by a total of eight days.
Thursday marked the deadline for teams and players to settle on a deal to avoid arbitration. Had any of the nine players not avoided arbitration, they and the team would have to file their respective numbers. While they can still settle ahead of a hearing, the Diamondbacks typically have not operated that way under general manager Mike Hazen, who employs a file and trial approach.
Labor economist and MLB Trade Rumors contributor Dr. Matt Swartz projected the total salaries of Arizona's arbitration-eligible players to be around $40 million. With the salaries of all nine players reported, the Diamondbacks saved roughly $665K vs. projections. Ultimately it seems like a relatively insignificant sum compared to their projected $194 million payroll on Roster Resource, but it could play a role at the trade deadline.
Comparing the final salary agreements to the projections, the main savings came from their top two players. Gallen and Naylor settled for a total of $1.7 million below their projected amount. On the flip side, their arbitration-eligible relievers all beat their projected number. A.J. Puk and Geraldo Perdomo both significantly beat their number, finishing $350K and $450K above what Swartz projected.
With their arbitration-eligible players now taken care of, Hazen can now focus on addressing the remaining needs of the roster. Priority number one should be getting a lockdown closer to stabilize the ninth inning, then acquiring a right-handed bat to shore up the designated hitter spot.