One of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ most disappointing players is in line for the biggest raise among their nine arbitration-eligible players, based on annual projections by MLBTradeRumors.com for the 2025 season.
Right fielder Bryan De La Cruz, who batted .200 with six doubles, three home runs and 17 RBIs in 44 games for the Pirates after being acquired from the Miami Marlins at the trade deadline in late July, is projected to earn $4 million in his first year of arbitration.
That amounts to a $3,232,000 salary increase for De La Cruz, who made $768,000 last season. Those numbers are based on his season production, as the 27-year-old batted .233/.271/.384 with 25 doubles, 21 home runs and 68 RBIs when his 105 games with Miami are included.
Where MLB teams and agents use player comparisons to arrive at their salary requests, which can be settled before going before at an arbiter, the MLB Trade Rumors numbers are based on an algorithm developed by Matt Swartz to project arbitration salaries based on “playing time, position, role and performance statistics while accounting for inflation.”
Right-handed reliever David Bednar is projected to raise his salary from $4.51 million to $6.6 million in his second year of arbitration. That’s an increase of $2.09 million, despite the two-time All-Star losing his closer role after blowing seven save attempts and posting a 5.77 ERA this year.
Left-handed starter Bailey Falter is next in line for the biggest bump, going from $755,000 to a projected $2.8 million in his first year of arbitration. Falter was 8-9 with a 4.43 ERA and 1.29 WHIP in a career-high 1421⁄3 innings over 28 starts, including eight quality starts.
Righty reliever Dennis Santana, who earned $429,624 after spending part of the season in the minors for the New York Yankees, is projected to receive a $1,370,376 raise to $1.8 million after posting a 2.44 ERA and 0.93 WHIP in 441⁄3 innings over 39 appearances for the Pirates.
Two other position players are in line for seven-figure raises: Outfielder/first baseman Connor Joe is projected to make $3.2 million, a $1.075 million increase in his second year of arbitration; and catcher Joey Bart is projected to go from $770,000 to $1.8 million after hitting career bests of 11 doubles, 13 homers and 45 RBIs in 80 games for the Pirates after being acquired from the San Francisco Giants in April.
Three pitchers are pegged for more modest raises. Righty starter Johan Oviedo, who missed the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, is projected to nearly double his salary, from $765,000 to $1.5 million. Righty reliever Colin Holderman, who made $755,000, is projected to earn $1.44 million. And righty reliever Ben Heller, who spent part of the season in the minors, is projected to go from $507,500 to $1 million.
Last year, the Pirates avoided arbitration by signing six players to deals, with Bednar earning the biggest bump ($3.765 million), followed by righty starter Mitch Keller’s $3.05 million raise to $5,442,500 before signing a five-year, $77 million contract extension in February.
