The Milwaukee Brewers and All-Star catcher William Contreras have yet to reach a salary agreement for 2025. Contreras, who is entering his first year of arbitration, contributed $900,000 more than the Brewers were offered. If the two sides fail to reach an agreement, an arbitration hearing will be held in February to determine Contreras’ salary. If he makes it this far, Contreras will have a chance to win his case.
William Contreras filed for the second-highest salary for an arbitration-eligible catcher in his first year
Highest salaries for a freshman catcher
1. Buster Posey $8 million (9.8 WAR, 164 wRC+)
2. Cal Raleigh $5.6 million (5.4 WAR, 117 wRC+, Plat. Glove)
T3. Matt Wieters $5.5 million (4.1 WAR, 107 wRC+)
T3. Adleyrutschman (2.8 WAR, 104 wRC+)
5. Will Smith $5.25 million (4.3 WAR, 124 wRC+) https://t.co/uqr7OjZAm3
— Curt Hogg (@CyrtHogg) January 10, 2025
The Milwaukee Brewers will likely win their arbitration case
If the salary dispute between the Brewers and William Contreras goes to arbitration, it is likely that Milwaukee will win. Reviewing the Brew’s David Gasper looked at each player’s stats, war and previous awards and found that Contreras faces an uphill battle to receive his desired salary.
Raleigh has the edge in customary stats like HR and RBI, as well as the Gold Glove
Contreras is ahead in 2Bs, BA, OBP, SLG, OPS, OPS+ and is a top-5 MVP
I argue that Contreras is the better player, but arb doesn’t always agree. This will be a fascinating case
— David Gasper (@dgasper24) January 10, 2025
Also, just to add something to the comparison
Raleigh: 11.3 career bWAR
Contreras: 11.4 career bWARRaleigh: 13.9 fWAR
Contras: 13.1 fWAR
It will be fascinating again. But based on WAR, the Brewers could have a solid foundation for their PC. They could very well win if there was a hearing
— David Gasper (@dgasper24) January 10, 2025
Should the Milwaukee Brewers just pay William Contreras an extra $900,000?
From the outside looking in, it seems silly that the Brewers didn’t simply pay William Contreras the extra $900,000 he asked for. Contreras has been selected as the team’s MVP each of the last two seasons and will continue to play a key role in the team’s success going forward. However, Milwaukee has been stubborn in the past, in 2020 suing Corbin Burnes for more than $740,000 in arbitration and Josh Hader for more than $2.3 million. The Brewers won both of those cases and seem likely to win again if that becomes necessary for Contreras.
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