Mets' Jeff McNeil, Yankees' Gleyber Torres remain unsigned after arbitration deadline
The Mets’ Jeff McNeill points to the dugout after hitting a double in the bottom of the seventh inning against the Padres in Game 2 of the NL Wild Card Series at Citi Field on Oct. 8, 2022. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
The Mets and Yankees each signed all but one of their arbitration-eligible players Friday on a busy day of transactions around Major League Baseball.
The sole exceptions were the Mets’ Jeff McNeil and the Yankees’ Gleyber Torres, but they still could come to terms before scheduled hearings later this offseason.
McNeil filed for $7.75 million and the Mets at $6.25 million for 2023 when the teams exchanged numbers, according to MLB.com. The gap between Torres and the Yankees is smaller: $10.2 million vs. $9.7 million.
The headliner among the one-year contracts for local players was the Mets’ Pete Alonso, who nearly doubled his 2022 salary of $7.4 million to $14.5 million.
That figure equaled the Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr. as the second-biggest of the 170 contracts agreed to, leaving 33 players currently headed to arbitration. Juan Soto of the Padres topped the list with a $23 million deal for 2023.
The biggest dollar amount among the Yankees’ arbitration-eligible players was for pitcher Frankie Montas, at $7.5 million.
The New York Post reported on Saturday that Montas is expected to miss the first month of the season because of a setback in his return from shoulder problems.
The other Yankees who agreed to terms Friday were Nestor Cortes, Domingo German, Kyle Higashioka, Clay Holmes, Michael King, Jonathan Loaisiga, Wandy Peralta and Jose Trevino.
Peralta ($3.35 million), Holmes ($3.3 million) and Cortes ($3.2 million) got the biggest salaries after Montas, according to The Associated Press.
Cortes made $727,500 in 2022, when he went 12-4 with a 2.44 ERA.
After getting his big raise, he posted on Twitter: “It’s a special day for my family and me. Specially my parents. Sacrificed so much for the ‘American dream’. Always put me ahead of their needs. For EVERYONE keep grinding and stay hungry. This is the start! No matter what comes next.”
The other Mets who agreed were Jeff Brigham, Luis Guillorme, Elieser Hernandez, Tomas Nido and Drew Smith.
Guillorme and Hernandez got the biggest deals other than Alonso at $1.6 million each.
Though the Mets are pleased to have Alonso in the fold after a season in which he hit 40 home runs and totaled a team-record 131 RBIs, the goal now presumably will be to agree with him on a long-term deal. He has become a face of the franchise in addition to a leader and a productive player.
Alonso, 28, is scheduled to be back on the arbitration list in 2024 and to become a free agent in 2025.
Players who do not reach agreements between now and their hearings will have their cases heard between Jan. 30 and Feb. 17.
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
