The Opener: Arbitration Filing Deadline, Rooker, White Sox

Here are three things we’ll be paying attention to around baseball this Thursday:

1. Arbitration filing deadline:

By noon CT this afternoon, all arbitration-eligible players must either agree on a contract for the 2025 season or both player and team must file for arbitration. The deadline for both sides to submit arbitration figures is later this evening at 7:00 PM CT. That means you can expect a significant number of players to sign their deals for the upcoming season today. While teams and players can continue negotiations after the filing deadline, many teams take what is known as a “file-and-trial” approach. In other words, they shut down contract discussions after the filing deadline and take all undecided cases to arbitration hearings.

You can find every arbitration-eligible player’s projected salary (from MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz) here.

2. Brent Rooker press conference:

After officially announcing Brent Rooker’s five-year, $60MM contract extension on Wednesday, the Athletics will hold a press conference to discuss the move today in Sacramento (per Martín Gallegos of MLB.com). Rooker, 30, is coming off of a phenomenal year for the A’s. He ranked fifth in the American League in home runs, third in RBIs, and sixth among qualified AL batters in OPS and wRC+. At season’s end, he was awarded the AL Silver Slugger at DH and finished 10th in AL MVP voting. With the A’s forced to increase payroll this winter, it makes perfect sense they chose to extend their best hitter on a deal that buys out all three of his arbitration seasons and at least two free agent years.

3. Another 40-man move incoming from the White Sox:

The White Sox have already made a handful of 40-man roster moves in the past few weeks, such as DFAing Corey Julks, Braden Shewmake, and Jacob Amaya to make room for Cam Booser, Tyler Gilbert, and Josh Rojas, respectively. Soon, Chicago will have to make another transaction before finalizing the team’s biggest (relatively speaking) offseason addition yet: Martín Pérez.

The veteran starting pitcher agreed to a one-year, $5MM contract with the White Sox on Wednesday. Before officially announcing the deal, the club must open a space for Pérez on the 40-man roster. The last several players the White Sox have DFA’d have all been position players, making it increasingly likely they will part with a pitcher to add the southpaw Pérez.