The Nationals won their arbitration case against outfielder Michael A. Taylor reports MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter). He’ll earn the $3.25MM figure that the team submitted rather than the $3.5MM figure at which he filed. Taylor was arbitration-eligible for the second time this winter and will be eligible once more next offseason before reaching free agent in the 2020-21 offseason.
Taylor, 28 in March, will receive a $725K raise over last year’s $2.525MM salary on the heels of a down season in which he hit just .227/.287/.357 with six homers, 22 doubles and three triples in 385 plate appearances. That marked a noted drop-off from his solid 2017 output: a .271/.20/.486 slash with 19 home runs, 23 doubles and three triples.
At present, Taylor will have an expanded role with the Nationals early in the 2019 campaign. The potential departure of Bryce Harper could put Taylor in line for increased at-bats alongside fellow outfielders Juan Soto and Adam Eaton, though the looming presence of top prospect Victor Robles casts a shadow over Taylor’s playing time. Whether it’s Opening Day or later in the upcoming season, Robles will get a shot at cementing himself as Washington’s everyday center fielder, at which point Taylor will again revert to a more limited role. And, of course, if the Nationals do bring Harper back to the organization, playing time will be all the more difficult to come by for Taylor.
As always, you can keep up to date with this year’s ongoing arbitration hearings and settlements in MLBTR’s Arbitration Tracker. With Taylor, Anthony Rendon, Trea Turner, Joe Ross and Sammy Solis out of the way, Washington’s lone remaining unsettled case is that of reliever Kyle Barraclough.
Congrats Nats on that 250K win. I am sure it was worth it.
I’d be pretty PO’d if I were Taylor.
This cuts both ways, though. Why couldn’t they agree to split the difference? There must be some stubbornness or bad blood here. The player and the team could both be at fault.
Yup.. Nats should have been the bigger person and split the difference at $125K.. and come to an agreement.. Not smart business in the long run.
So basically after attorneys fees they pay to represent them in the arbitration they broke even rather than just given the kid 125k more
Every year these things happen and every year fans on here still don’t understand the arb process. The more you save earlier the more you save later which really matters for guys like Donaldson and Arenado and still stupid ignorant fans will argue it’s only 400k why haggle over that. Smh.
Agree with you 100%, not that it matters to you or anyone else for that matter.
if you mean Positively Overjoy’D i agree. He did have a pretty bad year AND got a raise for his efforts (despite the results).
Yeah no kidding. Shocking they would do that. I heard Bowden talking on Sirius/XM radio about that and he said back when he was a GM, the team had to pay between 100k-150k in attorney fees for the hearings. So the 250k savings wasn’t really even that much.
Neither was Taylor’s production!
Attorney fees dont count against the luxury tax..
You do realize that 250k is a quarter (1/4) of a million dollars right? He’s also receiving nearly 3/4 million dollar raise (725k) despite a down (worse than before) year,right?
Yes.
Very insightful stuff.
Thanks for clarifying that. it’s still a small difference.
Can I come work for you?
Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t going to arbitration mean the contract isn’t guaranteed? So if the Nationals sign Harper, they can cut MAT and not be held accountable for the contract?
That’s incorrect, it’s a guaranteed major league contract
Guaranteed if he starts the season on the Roster, but They can still cut him and not pay a dime
They will have to pay a minor portion, but yes, they can avoid paying the majority of the contract.
release him between now and march 14th (maybe a day or 2 earlier), he’s owed 1/6 of his pay.
after that, but until opening day, goes up to 1/4 pay.
makes the roster (either active, dl, or sent to minors if option is available), full pay
Barraclough and the Nats are also separated by a quarter-million. It’s rough, I tell ya.
So, if the Nats win the case vs barraclough, the savings from the 2 cases pays for almost 1 full season of a league minimum player’s salary ($548k).
or half what they pay their manager..
Exactly. Hope he can afford to eat. Great time to be a ball player. Above average guys are making tons, getting 3/4 million dollar raises. Yet, the true stars of the game have to wait. Wake up MLB.
Did you mean “below average” guys? While I empathize with your sentiment somewhat, it really is a moot argument at this point. Unless all baseball fans made a united front and boycotted games so that owners were forced to lower ticket prices and other assorted costs with going to a baseball game, the cat’s already out of the bag. I used to go to tons of games, would rather keep the money for myself nowadays.
You gonna boycott movies of actors that get paid millions to make crappy movies? I like how people single out athletes as their whipping board. You gonna Boycott Fortune 500 company’s of CEO’s that 100’s of millions of dollars in bonuses by raising the prices on goods and services. I bet you guys don’t think they are overpaid, but just capitalism, right?
Because of Netflix I might go to the movies 2-3 times a year? Used to go all the time. It’s a matter of cost vs reward. If there is not a corrolating enjoyment to couple with the higher prices, going to less games makes sense.
That’s pride****** with you.
Honestly, he should be lucky to be in the league. 1 more year like last year and I think they may DFA him.
It’s a shame that players still get a raise even if they have a horrible year
considering the system is set up to pay a tiny, minuscule fraction of their worth for the first 5-7 years of their career, no not really
Rewarding those for bad play.
That wouldn’t fly in the real world. I have zero issues for players reaching 30 mil in their final year of arb, but if they have a great year and then a bad year, they should make their same pay from the previous year.
I don’t know much about Taylor but would someone pay a $3 million salary for a player who had a 227/.287/.357 slash line if they were a FA? I’m not against players getting paid as much as they can get. Just seems high for that production.
Depends how good their glove is
Someone might pay that for a forth outfielder that can legit play all 3 positions but there is a big if
3 million is chump change for a team like the Nats. taylor has upside, and had a pretty good 2017 season.
Excellent defender who had a 3.1 fWAR season two years ago? Certainly worth $3 million to a big-budget franchise.
With those savings looks like the Nats can afford Harper
Yeah if they want to pay the Lux tax forever
Michael A. might do better elsewhere with a chance to play more. The Nats have been patient with him but he just hasn’t broken out.
Amazing how some people will never get out of the minors, and yet this guy gets money handed to him.
Arbitration needs an overhaul ASAP
Wish I could tank at my job, completely suck, and still get a 28% raise!
Michael “K” Taylor is a solid 4th OF. Great on defense but can’t hit a lick. I don’t blame the Nats for going to Arbitration. He isn’t worth half of what he’s making.
Victor Robles isn’t going to need a lot of rest in CF this season. Good luck Michael!
He was a 270 20/20 guy (ok, 19/22) with great defense last year when they gave him a nearly year long stretch of PAs. When he hasn’t been shuttled in and out, he hasnt fared well. Yes, it is because he has a lot of swing and miss going on…but so did Mike Cameron…he is a similar comp, late bloomer, low average, but good value player for a decade…
My Tigers could use him, but they have Cameron’s son about ready to take thr job in a year or less…
Taylor’s BA by season:
2014: .205
2015: .229 (more PA than 2018)
2016: .231
2017: .271
2018: .227
For his career, he strikes out at 31%.
His 2017 season was not a “breakout”, it was on outlier.
I’m a huge Nats fan. Watch ever game. He isn’t very good.
189m they spend on FA but couldn’t afford that 250k.
In situations like this I always wonder how much of a genuine good faith effort did both sides make to reach an agreement.
Deals get made when reasonable people try to find a solution, not try to screw each other over.
Meanwhile. Nick Markakis plays EVERY game. Bats .297 with 93 rbi and takes a pay cut.
Way to kick off his expanded role. Bad mouthing him to an arbitrator over 250k.
if he does his job BETTER this season he will RECEIVE a BIGGER raise next season. Then he may actually EARN the raise.
He sucks so I wouldn’t want to pay him a penny more than I had to also
If the Nats designated Taylor he would’ve ended up signing somewhere on a minor league deal with a spring invite
Given their OF status, the Giants would have wet themselves to get their hands on him.
So the team that gave Patrick Corbin $144 million was fighting over saving 250,000? LOL!
Must be nice to be a fringe major league ball player and still make over $3 million for a season.
Like I’ve said before, they’re all overpaid.
Now let the hate begin.
Booooooooooooo.
Sorry, that’s all I got.
I’ll take it!
Taylor is an outstanding defender with excellent speed. he has bat potential with very decent pop. He didnt live up to his bat potential last year, so he.didn’t earn the larger raise he was seeking. thats on him, not the nats. he still got.a 3/4 million raise. he’s.decent OF depth.and with his potential, might be a good trade piece to a team in search of a CF inexpensive starter. he’s worth holding on to for that reason. The Nats are in Luxury Tax zone and don’t do themselves any favors by giving money away, even if it’s a 1/4 million or less. with injuries and rest needs, every team benefits by having 4 quality OFs. even without Harper, the Nats have a very solid OF. If the nats get Harper back, i’d like to see Robles season some more in AAA and let Harper start to see some time as a LH compliment to Zim at 1b. CF was not his best position ladt year, but his bat is what plays. a spring at CF/RF/1B might prove beneficial to him, but ultimately i think a player like Bryce needs to lock and load at one position. I’d love the Nats to keep Bryce, but for the dollars it will cost and the potential impact it might have on Robles and Eaton… I think I’d prefer them to move on. as long as Bryce enjoys a career outside of the NL East.