Pair of young SF Giants players receive pre-arbitration bonuses for 2025

A pair of young SF Giants players in Patrick Bailey and Randy Rodríguez earned bonuses in 2025. According to the Associated Press, Bailey and Rodríguez received $494,307 and $230,041, respectively, in pre-arbitration bonuses.

Pair of young SF Giants players receive pre-arbitration bonuses for 2025

This bonus structure was added to the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) as a way to reward pre-arbitration players. 

Oftentimes, a player’s value exceeds what they are being paid during their rookie contracts. During their pre-arbitration years, players have little control over their salary. They are paid near the league minimum.

Once they reach arbitration, they have more leverage in negotiating their salary. There is usually a ceiling to what they can earn, but they will see a raise every year through arbitration.

The pre-arbitration bonus pool is a cool new lever for those players to be financially rewarded for their performance, even if it falls well short of compensating them fully for the value they bring to the table. 

Each team pays $1.67 million annually into this bonus pool. Despite it being a non-discretionary cash outflow, that amount counts against each team’s luxury tax spending.

That pool is first allocated to pre-arbitration players who finish in the top three of the MVP, CY Young, and Rookie of the Year Awards. Any player who is named to the first-team and second-team All-MLB also receives a bonus. The remainder is paid out to the top 100 qualified players by WAR.

Patrick Bailey and Randy Rodríguez are some of the beneficiaries of this new bonus pool. In particular, Bailey fell just shy of qualifying for Super Two status in 2026, which would have resulted in a sizable raise. This bonus does mitigate some of that difference.

Bailey has quickly emerged as one of the top defensive players in the game. He took home the NL Gold Glove Award at catcher and was recognized as Sports Info Solutions’ Defensive Player of the Year.

At the plate, the switch-hitter struggled to a .602 OPS in 452 plate appearances. Despite the offensive struggles, he was still worth 3.2 fWAR.

On the other hand, Rodríguez earned an NL All-Star nod in his first full season in the majors. He was one of the best relievers in baseball this past season.

The right-handed hurler pitched to a 1.78 ERA while being worth 1.4 fWAR in 50.2 innings. He finished the year on the injured list after undergoing Tommy John surgery, and is expected to miss all of next season.