Dozens of arbitration-eligible players woke up Thursday with the hopes of settling with their respective clubs on a contract figure for 2025, avoiding the prospect of an arbitration hearing. Most of them accomplished that goal.

A total of 17 players did not come to an agreement by Thursday’s deadline, exchanging salary figures with the expectation of heading to an arbitration hearing. That’s six fewer than last year, when 23 players exchanged numbers with their respective clubs, and nearly half of the record 33 players that swapped salary figures with clubs in 2023.

Here are some takeaways from this year’s arbitration deadline:

The Top 10, revisited

A year ago, Juan Soto established a new record for the largest one-year contract for an arbitration-eligible player, agreeing to a $31 million deal with the Yankees. That deal came one year after Shohei Ohtani had previously set the mark at $30 million.

That record is safe for at least one more year.

A new high wasn’t set for a third straight January, as Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s $28.5 million deal with the Blue Jays marked the biggest settlement of the year. That represented an $8.6 million raise for Guerrero, who earned $19.9 million last year after beating Toronto in an arbitration hearing. Guerrero is slated to become a free agent at the end of the 2025 campaign.

Framber Valdez was the only other player to settle on a deal worth at least $15 million Thursday, agreeing to an $18 million deal with the Astros. Like Guerrero, Valdez – who received a $5.9 million raise from last season – is headed for free agency at the end of 2025.

Prior to Thursday, this is what the list of the 10 biggest one-year contracts ever given to arbitration-eligible players looked like:

Juan Soto, $31M (2024)
Shohei Ohtani, $30M (2023)
Mookie Betts, $27M (2020)
Nolan Arenado, $26M (2019)
Josh Donaldson, $23M (2018)
Juan Soto, $23M (2023)
Bryce Harper, $21.625M (2018)
Francisco Lindor, $21.3 (2021)
Pete Alonso, $20.5M (2024)
Mookie Betts, $20M (2019)

Nine of those deals remain on that list following Thursday, as Guerrero became the 11^th arbitration-eligible player ever to land a one-year deal worth at least $20 million, knocking Mookie Betts’ 2019 deal for $20 million out of the Top 10.

Juan Soto, $31M (2024)
Shohei Ohtani, $30M (2023)
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., $28.5M (2025)
Mookie Betts, $27M (2020)
Nolan Arenado, $26M (2019)
Josh Donaldson, $23M (2018)
Juan Soto, $23M (2023)
Bryce Harper, $21.625M (2018)
Francisco Lindor, $21.3M (2021)
Pete Alonso, $20.5M (2024)

Eight-figure club

In addition to Guerrero and Valdez, six others agreed to terms on deals worth more than $10 million:

Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Blue Jays ($28.5 million)
Framber Valdez, Astros ($18 million)
Luis Arraez, Padres ($14 million)
Dylan Cease, Padres ($13.75 million)
Zac Gallen, D-backs ($13.5 million)
Randy Arozarena, Mariners ($11.3 million)
Josh Naylor, D-backs ($10.9 million)
Tarik Skubal, Tigers ($10.15 million)

• Padres settle with Arraez ($14M) and Cease ($13.75M), per source

Exchange rate

Eighteen teams were able to come to terms with all of their arbitration-eligible players by Thursday: Astros, Athletics, Blue Jays, Braves, D-backs, Giants, Guardians, Marlins, Mariners, Mets, Phillies, Rangers, Reds, Rockies, Royals, Tigers, Twins and White Sox. The Brewers did exchange with reliever Devin Williams, but then dealt him to the Yankees, leaving them with no unsigned players.

Of the other 12 clubs that exchanged numbers with at least one player, the Angels and Cardinals had the most with three apiece. The Pirates exchanged with two players, while the other eight clubs (Brewers, Cubs, Dodgers, Nationals, Orioles, Padres, Rays, Red Sox and Yankees) exchanged with one player each.

Kyle Tucker is seeking the highest salary of those players who filed, asking for $17.5 million from the Cubs, who filed at $15 million. The only other player seeking an eight-figure salary is Nathaniel Lowe, who filed for $11.1 million, while the Nationals – who acquired Lowe in a trade last month – countered at $10.3 million.

• Cubs, Tucker swap salary arbitration figures

Tucker’s $2.5 million spread marks the widest margin between filing numbers this year, followed by Michael King, who filed for $8.8 million to the Padres’ $7.325 million, a difference of $1.475 million.

The smallest spread between player and club? Luis Rengifo, whose $5.95 million filing was just $150,000 higher than the Angels’ filing of $5.8 million.

Here’s a complete list of the 17 players who exchanged figures with their clubs, broken down by team. Both the player’s and the team’s filed salaries are in parenthesis:

Luis Rengifo ($5.95 million), Angels ($5.8 million)
Mickey Moniak ($2 million), Angels ($1.5 million)
Jose Quijada ($1.14 million), Angels ($975,000)
William Contreras ($6.5 million), Brewers ($5.6 million)
Brendan Donovan ($3.3 million), Cardinals ($2.85 million)
Lars Nootbaar ($2.95 million), Cardinals ($2.45 million)
Andre Pallante ($2.1 million), Cardinals ($1.925 million)
Kyle Tucker ($17.5 million), Cubs ($15 million)
Alex Vesia ($2.35 million), Dodgers ($2.05 million)
Nathaniel Lowe ($11.1 million), Nationals ($10.3 million)
Jorge Mateo ($4 million), Orioles ($3.1 million)
Michael King ($8.8 million), Padres ($7.325 million)
Dennis Santana ($2.1 million), Pirates ($1.4 million)
Johan Oviedo ($1.15 million), Pirates ($850,000)
Taylor Walls ($1.575 million), Rays ($1.3 million)
Jarren Duran ($4 million), Red Sox ($3.5 million)
Mark Leiter Jr. ($2.5 million), Yankees ($2.05 million)