The Mariners announced that they have avoided arbitration with right-hander Bryce Miller by agreeing to a one-year deal with a club option for 2027. Miller will make a $2.4375MM salary in 2026, according to Adam Jude of The Seattle Times. The club option is worth $6.075MM and has a $15K buyout, so Miller is guaranteed $2.4525MM, per Jon Heyman of The New York Post. The club option is voided if Miller finishes in the top five of Cy Young voting in 2026. He will still be controllable via arbitration through 2029 regardless of how the contractual situation plays out.
Miller was one of 18 players who did not have a deal in place when the arbitration filing deadline passed earlier this month. He just qualified for arbitration for the first time this offseason as a Super Two player, meaning he will go through the process four times instead of the standard three. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected him for a $2.4MM salary. Miller filed at $2.625MM and the Mariners at $2.25MM.
A gap of just $375K is a drop in the bucket for a major league baseball club but it compounds when looking at the bigger picture. A player’s subsequent trips through arbitration see his salary grow as a percentage of where he started. Therefore, a $375K gap can actually lead to a swing of millions over three years, or four in this case.
Most teams these days adopt a “file and trial” approach, which means they cut off negotiations of one-year deals after the filing deadline. This is to give them leverage in pre-deadline talks and also to prevent players from filing absurdly high numbers in an attempt to set out an aggressive bargaining stance. An arbiter can only pick the player’s or the team’s number, not a midpoint.
Even if a team does have a “file and trial” policy, exceptions are made for deals that are longer than one year, even if that extra year is an option. That gives the club a path to avoid a potentially contentious hearing while sticking to their policy, in a sense. A deal with an option can’t be used as a comparison point in future arb hearings as well, which is a factor.
Arbitration hearings are generally viewed as part of the business but occasional situations have cropped up where the relationships between a player and a team appeared to have been damaged. Three years ago, Corbin Burnes said as much in the wake of his hearing with the Brewers. Miller and the Mariners have staved off any possibility of that scenario by meeting roughly in the middle between their two filing numbers.
As mentioned, the club option is mostly a measure to avoid this agreement being used as a future comp. Even if it is voided or turned down, Miller would remain under club control through 2029 via arbitration.
There will now be no more than 16 hearings this year. Since the 18 players filed earlier this month, Cade Cavalli and the Nationals reached a new agreement and now Miller is off the list as well. Miller was the last Mariner in the arb class without a determined salary, so the club is now wrapped in that department.
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