Arbitration is an important part of the major league baseball team-building process. While it’s a unique system unlike any other in sports, it (theoretically) allows for small-market teams to retain their young talent through the first six years of their career before having to worry about their free agency market.
But, as we may find out with Steven Kwan this offseason, not every arbitration eligible player lasts on their original roster through all six of their arbitration-eligible years.
On Monday, MLB Trade Rumors Matt Swartz put together a list of projected arbitration salaries for the 2026 season using their proprietary algorithm that takes into consideration a player’s playing time, position, role, and performance statistics while accounting for inflation.