Since 2001, the Detroit Tigers had avoided going to an arbitration hearing with any of their players. That streak finally ended with Michael Fulmer. In his first year of arbitration eligibility, the 25-year-old right-hander and 2016 AL Rookie of the Year, and the Tigers, couldn’t come to an agreement. Both sides pleaded their case on Wednesday, and things didn’t turn out as Fulmer had hoped.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports that Fulmer will receive $2.8 million for the 2019 season. That number is $600K less than his asking price. It’s a somewhat surprising result considering that recently a host of young players including Trevor Bauer and Carlos Correa won their cases by fairly substantial margins.