Infielder Alec Bohm has won his arbitration hearing against the Phillies, per Jon Heyman of The New York Post. The Boras Corporation client will make a salary of $4MM this year as opposed to the $3.4MM figure the club was hoping for.
Bohm, 27, is coming off arguably his best full season in the majors. He hit 20 home runs while reducing his strikeout rate to just 15.4%. His 6.9% walk rate was still on the low side but his .274/.327/.437 batting line translated to a 105 wRC+, indicating he was 5% better than league average at the plate. He split his time almost evenly between third base and first base, covering the latter while Rhys Hoskins and Bryce Harper were both unavailable due to injuries. He didn’t receive especially strong grades at either spot but the versatility is surely still valuable to the club.
This was the first time he qualified for arbitration and MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected Bohm for a $4.3MM salary this year. The two sides couldn’t reach an agreement prior to the filing deadline and both of them filed under that projection. The arbiters decided to go with the player’s camp and awarded him the higher figure.
Players get raises based on their initial arbitration figure so establishing a strong base in the first year is often important for them, while the clubs conversely want the base to be low in order to tamp down future earnings. All players tendered contracts for 2024 now have their salaries determined except for Marlins left-hander Tanner Scott.
Not surprising,. However I hope the Arb process didn’t harm his relationship with the club as it has done to other players
Decent gap in filing numbers. I was surprised Philly came in so low. MLBTR’s arb modeler had Bohm’s filing number being light.
Agreed woods, but since he won, he can take solace that the arb guys made the right decision.
@spdpoet – Yes. That’s why I was glad Howard had won his against the Phillies. So much mud sligning can come out in those hearings. I knwo these guys are professionals, but you can’t unhear some of that stuff and some guys just can’t handle it.
Hopefully Bohm walked out of this with a snicker on his face. Middleton can afford it.
Is there evidence the arb process leads to damaged relationships long term?
None Rob. I think some fans like to talk about it like it ruins relationships, but I’m sure these guys all know this is a business, and while I think the arb process is flawed anyway, it clearly wasn’t changed during the CBA negotiations, so players can’t complain too much. The process probably offends anyone under 30, because everything offends that generation.
I agree with most of what you said, but icing it with the under 30 comment doesn’t make sense, especially since 99% of arbitration players are under 30.
And I’m not under 30 btw in case you were wondering.
Not true Zachary. Go back to last year and listen to what Corbin Burnes had to say.
Lemon I wasn’t talking about the players. I was talking about the under 30 fans, but you’re right though, my dig at that age group wasn’t really necessary.
My suspicion is that most players are not very involved in the process other than giving the ultimate thumbs up or down in the final negotiations. Why expose yourself to the nasty stuff when your agent is there to handle it?
@Stud That depends on the player. Some do want to get fully involved. Then there are extremes in players such as David Robertson and Gary Sheffield who choose to self-represent and use no agents. For someone like me, you damn sure I’d be in the arb room to look those guys in their eyes while they tell me how I suck.
Lol, The don’t go into a room and “tell you how much you suck”. Most of it has to do with comps
They don’t tell the player they state their case to the arbiter. This is probably after the player b.s.’s about how valuable they are. It’s an established system. To take it as anything more than business is just silly or an attempt to develop leverage in future negotiations. The latter of which is a legit business strategy.
Arbitration is basically a team saying “we don’t think you’re good enough to earn X” wouldn’t be surprised if he said F-U Phillies and ended up with the Dodgers some day
Shadow Banned….that’s not right at all, and if Bohm is that upset over 500K, he’s gonna have a tough career. I’m sure this bothers you more than him.
Think of it this way Zach. They’re paying Harper 44 million or whatever it is.
Then they’re nickel and diming a clutch player with good numbers 450k?
That kinda s.hit doesn’t sit well with me.
That’s like your co workers getting 2 months paid vacation while you’re getting 2 weeks.
Ok, we’ll have to disagree here. I don’t see it that way at all and the analogy did absolutely nothing for me. I get 4 weeks paid vacation. My boss gets 6. The junior sales guys at my company get 2. He makes more money than I do, and I make more money than they do. That’s the real world. What Bohm makes vs. Harper’s salary is 100 percent irrelevant to this argument.
Maybe that’s why the cubs went 106 years without a chip. lol
Of course they’re related little cubbie, how are they so willing to over spend on Harper and be reluctant to pay Bohm what he’s asking for so much so they’re going to arbitration over it.
Little Cubbie? Lol. Eat me dude. Go get some tissues and cry more about the process.
Hey I’m chillin Dodgers got all their players locked in. I’m ready for the season
Harper getting $44 million? Boy do you live in a make believe fantasy world. Try he makes $26 million a year. You just made Harper shortchanged $18 million dollars a year! If Bohm is pissed about being shortchanged $450k, Harper must be furious! I guess that is why he won MVP in 2021.
Oh wait. You’re a Dodger fan? That’s right, you DO live in a fantasyland world.
Yep! Your team got all those players locked in! Big deal. That counts for what? A 100+ win season. West division winner. And then what? A first or second round playoff loss when you finally match up to the lot stronger East division teams, and come to the realization… Dodgers ARE a fantasy team and You’re Outta Here!!!
Gotta love how the teams pay out 330 million over 10 years, but then pay lawyers, and squabble over 500k. It’s a huge waste of time and resources. I could see if he wanted 12 mill a year or some crazy number but in a 12 year career what is 500k going to do for a player other than make him happy and appreciate the team he is on is taking care of him.
@Super it isn’t just about the $500k. Not only will that put Bohm at significantly higher earnings in future arb years, the amount Bohm earns will be used as a future data point for *other* players in their arb years. It would be really hard to get a good figure on how much a single arb case ends up costing a team in 10 years when you count the downstream effects, but it’s not a small number.
Correct. It can cost a team millions more as future arb raises are based off the last one. In this case, though, I really am a bit surprised the Phillies didn’t accept Bohm’s figure as there was high likelihood he’d win. Looks as if Bohm himself under priced himself. He likely could have gotten more.
Yeah I agree
Well… if Bohm’s salary becomes precedent then all comparable arbitration numbers go up so it’s not just about the legal cost of Bohm ‘s hearing.
Nice! Fack dombrowski!
Sweet victory.
So glad Bohm won!
He has made good progress every year, he may not be the 3rd baseman in 5yrs, but this win lets him hold his head high. Kinda doesn’t matter how bad he may have been portrayed because the panel gave him the W.
Let the ST games begin!
Agreed. I have to eat my words a little here. I was pretty down on Bohm a couple of years ago, but he has really impressed me with his improvement. I really like watching him play now. Glad he got rewarded for his efforts.
I’m excited to see another year of development for both he and Stott. Couple that with some development from Kerkering and Rojas and this team could be something special.
It really is hard not to like this cast of characters. Reminds me of the 93 team
@Woods Rider
Maybe the Jays will smarten up and can face Philly in the WS. Is Mitch Williams still pitching for you guys? LOL!
He probably could but his location is off. He keeps missing high and inside.
Please, in Philadelphia we say, ‘yous guys’.
@Bart Harley Jarvis
Who Youse talkin’ to?
🙂
And Windah, potatah, tomatah, WOODER, RAD-E-ay-ter.
And it’s not Broad St either, its Brawd Street in these Jawns.
@Woods Rider
lingojam.com/PhiladelphiaEnglishTranslator
@woods, total upvote for jawns…
@cpdpoet – I’m oroginally from Millville, NJ. AKA Troutville.
I’m in Denver now and I get asked constantly where I’m from becuase of my accent and my prolific use of the term Jawn lol
It’s almost as univerally versatile as that certain four letter word they use in Goodfellas a lot.
Nice grew up in Villanova and spent most Augusts in OC near the boardwalk. My 2nd(?) fiance was born in Millville and grew up in OC.
Jawn forever entered my vocab when I started bartending in Manyunk. Unfortunately I live, for now, in passive agressive whiteworld of chicago @2 miles north of wrigley…..
I lived in London 2000-2005. The day I moved back to Philadelphia I went out to lunch on South Street. The waitress came to the table and said, “What can I get yous?”, and I thought it’s nice to be home.
I think that every time I go home. My first stop is always a Wawa.
Absolutely! Bohms power numbers are steadily increasing. I’m looking to
See 25hr 100rbi season out of him
He short changed himself about 500K but good to see he still made some decent cash.
Does anyone know if the arbitrator states their reasoning when deciding? And if so, has it ever become public?
It’s not their job to. Kind of like how boxing judges score their cards. No one ever explains their rationale. There are also non-disclosure agreements to sign for all involved parties.
Nah. It’s like the MLB poor umpiring. Just sweep what happened under the rug and move along. Nothing more to talk about what happened or the reason why it happened.
His numbers don’t stand out but he always seems to do what a team needs.
DEFEAT.
Alright I’m an older fan and I’m doing my best to evolve and pay attention to the new metrics. Now can somebody explain to me how this kids 2023 line translates to a 0.4war and a 108ops+. 274/20/97 seems like it’s better than more than 8% of the league
I’ll try, mate. He played a lot at 1B which depresses WAR because it’s a non-vital defensive position. Also, he loses some WAR because he’s below par at 3B.
OPS+ factors in ballpark ratings and CBP is a hitter’s park. I hope I’m right?
I guess that makes a little sense. Next point… Rizzo was .5 war and hit 243/12/43. Does bohm play 1st base with a glove on his foot and stand with his back to homeplate?
Don’t worry Oscar the only people who understand new metrics/vodoo math are witch doctors, trolls from the enchanted kingdom & flat earthers,. So you won’t have to wait long for an answer, because trust me, they’er all here. Ahahaha!
But did he “defeat” the Phillies in the arb hearing tho?