Jose Berrios has been a two-time All-Star pitcher for the Twins, but that didn't help his request for a record salary in his first year of arbitration.
Berrios will earn $4.025 million for the 2020 season after the Twins won an arbitration case with him in a ruling that came down Thursday. He had asked for $4.4 million. In 2019, Berrios earned $620,000 while winning 14 games.
If Berrios had won his case, it would have been a record for a contract awarded via arbitration to a first-year-eligible pitcher. That contract still would have fallen well short of the $7.25 million contract Dallas Keuchel got with Houston in 2016, when the 2015 AL Cy Young Award winner reached agreement with the Astros before going to an arbitrator.
A major league source confirmed the arbitrator's ruling.
On Twitter, Berrios (@JOLaMaKina) thanked the Major League Baseball Players Association, which supported his quest for a record reward, and his agents, the Wasserman Media Group: "Feels good to be well represented, but feels even better to have a dream team represent you! THIS IS MY DREAM TEAM! No matter what the final result is!"
If Berrios does not sign a long-term contract, he will be eligible for free agency in 2023.
The Twins didn't go to arbitration with their other six eligible players: Byron Buxton, Tyler Duffey, Trevor May, Taylor Rogers, Eddie Rosario and Miguel Sano. In January, Sano got a three-year bridge contract, with a fourth-year option, that takes the first baseman through all his arbitration-eligible seasons. That deal is guaranteed for $30 million and could be worth $41 million.
