Oakland A’s avoid arbitration with all remaining players

The Oakland A’s have agreed to terms with all of their remaining arbitration-eligible players, the team announced Friday. They had seven such players, and each of them avoided arbitration hearings by inking one-year contracts for the 2020 season.

Here’s the full list of Friday’s new signings, with the salary numbers mostly courtesy of Susan Slusser of the S.F. Chronicle (except one by MLB insider Mark Feinsand). Also included is the difference between their salaries and their projections from MLB Trade Rumors (a negative number means they signed below their projection):

• SS Marcus Semien, $13 million (-$0.5m) (link)
• RHP Liam Hendriks, $5.3 million (-$0.2m) (link)
• OF Mark Canha, $4.8 million (-$0.1m) (link)
• LHP Sean Manaea, $3.75 million (+$0.25m) (link)
• OF Robbie Grossman, $3.725 million (+0.425m) (link)
• RHP Chris Bassitt, $2.25 million (-$0.55m) (link)
• UT Chad Pinder, $2.025 million (+0.225m) (link)

The MLBTR estimates turned out to be quite accurate, as usual. Tally it all up, and the A’s came out about $450,000 below the collective projections for this group. They also agreed to terms with reliever T.J. McFarland in December, for $1.8 million ($0.3m below his projection), so if add him in then the difference for the eight players combined rises to a savings of $750,000.

Oakland entered the winter with five other arbitration-eligible players who have since exited the organization. They non-tendered catcher Josh Phegley as well as relievers Blake Treinen and Ryan Buchter, making all three of them free agents; Treinen later signed with the Dodgers, while the other two are still on the open market. They also traded second baseman Jurickson Profar to the Padres, and pitcher Jharel Cotton to the Cubs.

With these arbitration cases now settled, the team’s payroll comes more into focus. Here’s the rundown as things currently stand, before any further moves. (Note that everyone is rounded to one decimal, so the final tally doesn’t quite match the sum of its parts as presented. Also note that LHP Jake Diekman is listed twice, because his original contract option was bought out, and he was then later re-signed to a new deal.)

According to Cots Contracts, the A’s entered 2019 with a $92 million payroll for their 25-man roster, so they are around that same level now (and remember it will be a 26-man roster in 2020).

As for the 40-man roster, nothing changed with Friday’s news, but here’s a refresher on what that looks like after a quiet month. Players in italics haven’t yet debuted in MLB. There is one open spot on the roster.