Tepera bumped down in arbitration
Blue Jays middle reliever was the only Toronto player to go to a hearing, still gets sizable raise
Ryan Tepera, the lone Blue Jay to go to a salary arbitration hearing, reportedly lost his case.
The right-handed reliever, 31, had asked for US$1.8 million during a hearing on Wednesday and the team argued for $1.525 million. A day later, ESPN’s Jeff Passan and MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reported the decision by arbitrators Mark Burstein, Howard Edelman and Edna Francis went the club’s way.
Tepera, 31, was 5-5 with a 3.62 ERA in 68 games 2018, a slight regression from a breakout season in 2017 when he went 7-1 with a 3.59 ERA in 73 games. He was on the disabled list between June 27 and July 15 of last year with right elbow inflammation.
This marks the first time Tepera was eligible for arbitration. He is set to earn almost a million dollars more in 2019 than his $574,700 salary last season.
Tepera was one of nine arbitration-eligible Jays players this off-season. Starters Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez, relievers Ken Giles and Joe Biagini, outfielders Randal Grichuk and Kevin Pillar and infielders Brandon Drury and Devon Travis all reached one-year deals with the organization before the deadline to exchange final numbers for salary arbitration in early January.
The Jays were not the only victorious franchise on Thursday. The Washington Nationals also came out on the favourable side of an arbitration case concerning reliever Kyle Barraclough, who had filed for $2 million but will make $1.725 million instead, according to the Washington Post.
Players and MLB are now tied at 3-3 in decisions this year. Houston shortstop Carlos Correa, Oakland closer Blake Treinen and Tampa Bay outfielder Tommy Pham won. Washington outfielder Michael A. Taylor join Tepera and Barraclough on the losing side of he equation.