SCOTTSDALE-. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. He won a salary arbitration on Wednesday that awarded him $19.9 million, a record figure for this type of resource.
The amount was awarded by a panel of three judges, who favored the salary requested by the player and not the $18.05 million that the Toronto Blue Jays had put on the table. Even the figure raised by the team would have been the largest awarded by arbitration.
Scott Buchheit, Walt de Treus and Jeanne Charles made the decision a day after hearing the parties’ arguments. Players now have a 6-2 advantage in rulings issued this year, with 10 cases remaining.
Guerrero surpassed the highest amount awarded by an arbitration hearing — the 14 million that his fellow Dominican Teoscar Hernández, a Seattle outfielder, obtained after losing his appeal last year.
A three-time All-Star first baseman, Guerrero hit .264 with 26 homers and 94 RBIs last year, when he earned a salary of $14.5 million. He is eligible for free agency after the 2025 season.
Guerrero, whose namesake father is a Hall of Famer, turns 25 next month. He has a .279 average with 130 home runs and 404 RBIs in five seasons with the Blue Jays.
His best season was 2021, when he equaled as the best home run hitter in the majors, with 48 homers, and batted .311 with 111 RBIs.
He won the Gold Glove in 2022 and won last year’s Home Run Derby in Seattle, equaling the feat of his father, who was proclaimed winner in 2007, in San Francisco.
Source: AP
