The New York Mets lost their arbitration case with Zack Wheeler as the pitcher’s salary goes up to $1.9 million.
Right-handed pitcher Zack Wheeler beat the New York Mets on Thursday. In an arbitration case, that is.
Wheeler was the only player that the Mets went to arbitration with this offseason. He was in his second of three years of arbitration eligibility. They had offered him $1.5 million. However, he will get a raise form $800,000 to $1.9 million, according to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick.
Pardon my spelling, Zack Wheeler (not Zach) won his arb case with the #Mets. He gets $1.9 million. The #Mets were offering $1.5 million.
— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) February 8, 2018
The Mets pitcher missed the 2015 and 2016 seasons due to elbow injuries. He had Tommy John surgery on March 25, 2016. He made a minor league appearance in August 2016 and before returning to the Mets last spring.
Last year Wheeler was 3-7 with a 5.21 ERA in 17 starts. He walked 40 batters while allowing 97 hits and 15 home runs and struck out 81 batters. He had a WHIP of 1.587.
The Mets probably didn’t want to give Wheeler a raise due to his injury history. However, the pitcher’s salary puts the Mets payroll over the $140 million threshold and ranks them 10th behind the Chicago Cubs for the 2018 season, according to Abbey Mastracco of NJ.com.
Wheeler is expected to be in the Mets starting rotation along with Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Matt Harvey and Steven Matz.
12 players in MLB remain scheduled for arbitration hearings through February 16. Luckily, the Mets were able to avoid arbitration hearings for eight other players by agreeing to fair contracts. Those players are Syndergaard, deGrom, Travis D’Arnaud, Jeurys Familia, A.J. Ramos, Harvey, Hansel Robles and Wilmer Flores.
Even though some salary discussions got heated, especially in the case of Flores, all’s well that ends well for the New York Mets. It seems the stage is set to move forward with this season and Wheeler will play a huge role in their rotation.
