Bobby Witt Jr. leads all players in pre-arbitration bonus money
Cole Ragans and Freddy Fermin also earned some extra scratch.
It has been quite a week for Bobby Witt Jr. He got married last weekend, and now he’ll have some extra money to get his marriage off to a good financial footing.
Witt was the highest earner under baseball’s pre-arbitration bonus pool, a measure to reward players in their first few years of service time. Bobby earned $3,077,595, topping Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes who earned $2,152,057 in a season where he won Rookie of the Year.
Witt was not the only young Royals player to earn some extra money. Pitcher Cole Ragans earned $1,638,013, fifth-most among players. Catcher Freddy Fermin was awarded $232,819.
The award system began in 2022 as a way to compensate player who were not yet eligible for arbitration. Each team contributes $1.67 million into a pool that totals $50 million. Awards are allocated as described by the Associated Press:
An eligible player gets $2.5 million for winning a MVP or Cy Young Award, $1.75 million for second in the voting, $1.5 million for third, $1 million for fourth, fifth or all-MLB first team, $750,000 for Rookie of the Year, $500,000 for second in Rookie of the Year voting or all-MLB second team.
The remaining money is split among the top 100 pre-arbitration players, as determined by a formula that incorporates both Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference WAR.
Witt finished third in MVP voting, earning him $1.5 million of his bonus. He receives his bonus in addition to his $2 million salary he earned as part of his 11-year, $288 million contract.