ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers and playoff hero Adolis Garcia could be heading toward a salary arbitration hearing.
The two sides were nearly $2 million apart on their salary terms for the upcoming season when the arbitration deadline hit Thursday. Garcia asked for $6.9 million, while the Rangers offered $5 million, according to new data posted by ESPN baseball insider Jeff Passan.
The $1.9 million gap is the largest among arbitration-eligible players in Major League Baseball this year.
The Rangers reached contract agreements with seven arbitration-eligible players this offseason, the club announced Thursday. Garcia is the only one who didn't ink a deal before the arbitration deadline this week.
As Passan noted, players and teams can still work out a deal or possibly agree to a longer-term contract. Deals that aren't worked out will head to an arbitration hearing before a panel of arbitrators, who will then decide on a salary number for the player.
Arbitration in Major League Baseball is for players who have attained at least three years of service time but aren't yet eligible for free agency. This is Garcia's first year of eligibility for arbitration, which will give him a hefty salary bump; he was making $747,760 in 2023.
Garcia improved again at the plate in 2023, hitting a career-high 39 homers with 107 runs batted in and an on-base plus slugging percentage of .836, second-best among full-time players on the Rangers.
But his biggest impact came in the postseason, when he blasted eight home runs including five against the Houston Astros in the American League Championship Series.
In the World Series, his extra-innings homer in Game 1 sent the Rangers to a walkoff victory against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Rangers on Thursday announced signings of the following arbitration-eligible players: Brock Burke, Dane Dunning, Jonah Heim, Jonathan Hernandez, Nathaniel Lowe, Josh Sborz and Leody Taveras.
Texas has had a relatively quiet offseason, so far, but recent reports have suggested the club is still in the mix to sign free agent pitcher Jordan Montgomery, who led the Rangers rotation through the playoffs after Texas acquired him at the trade deadline.
