Adam 4th Ray in arbitration; Javier, Alvarado reach deals

ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. » Reliever Jason Adam became the fourth Tampa Bay player to go to a salary arbitration hearing this year, asking a panel for $1,775,000 on Friday while the Rays argued for $1.55 million.

Houston pitcher Cristian Javier avoided a hearing by agreeing to a $64 million, fiveyear contract, and Phillies reliever José Alvarado got a $3.45 million, one-year deal.

Adam was 2-3 with a career-low 1.56 ERA and a career-best eight saves in 67 relief appearances, striking out 75 and walking 17 in 63.1 innings. He earned $1.15 million.

A decision is expected Saturday from the panel that heard Adam’s case.

Javier gets a $2 million signing bonus, payable within 30 days of the deal’s approval by the commissioner’s office, and salaries of $3 million this season, $7 million in 2024, $10 million in 2025 and $21 million in each of the following two years.

His salaries in the final two years can increase based on Cy Young Award voting, by up to $6 million in 2026 and $8 million in 2027. He would get a $2 million boost for each first-place finish, $1 million for second and $500,000 for third through fifth,

Javier has the right to block trades to 10 teams without his approval in 2026 and 2027.

A 25-year-old right-hander, Javier went 11-9 with a 2.54 ERA in 25 starts and five relief appearances last year, striking out 198 and walking 52 in 148 2/3 innings. He set career bests for wins, ERA, strikeouts and innings.

Javier won both his postseason starts, pitching 11.1 scoreless innings in Game 3 of the AL Championship Series against the Yankees and Game 4 of the World Series against the Phillies.

Alvarado went 4-2 with a 3.18 ERA and two saves in 59 relief appearances. He had a 5.56 ERA in 12 postseason appearances for the NL champions, getting the win in the Game 5 pennant-clincher against San Diego. Alvarado failed to hold a one-run lead in the sixth inning of World Series Game 6, relieving Zack Wheeler with two on and giving up a long three-run homer to Houston’s Yordan Alvarez. The Astros went on to a 4-1 victory that won the title.

Alvarado had filed for $3.7 million and the Phillies’ $3.2 million.

Ten players remain scheduled for hearings, which run through Feb. 17, including Philadelphia reliever Seranthony Domínguez.

Darvish’s contract with Padres runs through age 42

SAN DIEGO » After Yu Darvish finished answering a question about his new $108 million, six-year contract, the 36-year-old San Diego Padres ace turned to his interpreter, Shingo Horie, and added a thought.

“He still doesn’t believe if this is true or not; if it’s a prank,” Horie said.

It’s true, all right. Neither Darvish nor the Padres think the tall right-hander is anywhere close to being finished. He’s coming off one of his better seasons, when he helped lead the Padres on a stirring run to the NL Championship Series, and said he’ll do what it takes to still be pitching at a high level when he turns 42 late in the 2028 season, the last year of his deal.

“I just want to go as far as I can go and just kind of push myself as hard as I can,” Darvish said at a news conference Friday. “One thing I can say is the preparation will always be there; the hard work is always going to be there. We’ll see how far we can go.”