Royals' Bobby Witt Jr. and Pirates' Paul Skenes Lead MLB Pre-Arbitration Bonus Pool

As part of Major League Baseball's pre-arbitration bonus pool system, Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. and Pirates ace Paul Skenes received the largest bonuses this season, as reported by the Associated Press. This bonus pool system awards additional money to top-performing players in their pre-arbitration years (fewer than three years of service time), based on awards voting and Wins Above Replacement (WAR).

A total of 100 bonuses are distributed annually, with the pool valued at $50 million. The system is designed to reward young players who excel early in their careers. Here are the top eight players who received seven-figure bonuses:

- **Bobby Witt Jr., Royals**: $3,077,595
- **Paul Skenes, Pirates**: $2,152,057
- **Gunnar Henderson, Orioles**: $2,007,178
- **William Contreras, Brewers**: $1,722,174
- **Cole Ragans, Royals**: $1,638,013
- **Jarren Duran, Red Sox**: $1,321,661
- **Jackson Merrill, Padres**: $1,191,534
- **Luis Gil, Yankees**: $1,098,628


All players in their first three years of service time are eligible for this bonus pool, even those like Witt who have signed long-term contract extensions.

Brewers outfielder Sal Frelick received the smallest bonus at $232,549. These bonuses are initially paid by the player's team and later reimbursed by MLB's central fund. Each team contributes $1.67 million (1/30th of $50 million) annually to the bonus pool.


Pre-arbitration players typically earn close to the league minimum but are often some of the best players due to their youth and athleticism. The MLB Players Association prioritized increasing earnings for these players as part of the current collective bargaining agreement, and the bonus pool system helps achieve this goal.

Bonuses are allocated based on awards voting and a joint version of WAR. Multiple public versions of WAR exist (Baseball Reference, Baseball Prospectus, FanGraphs, etc.), each with different inputs. MLB's joint WAR relies on several versions rather than a single one.