DONE DEAL
Dollar dilemma: Mauricio Dubon's salary arbitration officially settled with Astros
Feb 6, 2024, 3:25 pm
Dubon won his arbitration case. Composite Getty Image.
Baltimore outfielder Austin Hays, Los Angeles Angels outfielder Taylor Ward and Houston utilityman Mauricio Dubón won their salary arbitration cases on Tuesday, giving players a 3-2 advantage with 13 cases still pending.
Hays was awarded the $6.3 million he asked for over the Orioles' proposed $5.85 million. Brian Keller, Allen Ponak and Jasbir Parmer made the Hays decision after hearing arguments on Jan. 30. The 28-year-old Hays hit .275 last year with 16 homers and 67 RBIs, earning $3.2 million. The 2023 All-Star is eligible for free agency after the 2025 season.
Ward had asked for $4.8 million compared to the team's offer of $4.3 million. His case was decided by Jeanne Vonhof, Margaret Brogan and Parmer, who conducted the hearing Friday. The 30-year-old Ward hit .253 last year with 14 homers and 47 RBIs, down from a .281 average with 23 homers and 65 RBIs in 2022. His season ended July 29 when he was hit on the head by a 91 mph fastball from Toronto’s Alek Manoah and sustained facial fractures.
Dubón won his case for $3.5 million over the team's offer of $3 million. The Gold Glove winner's hearing was Monday before John Woods, Jeanne Charles and Janice Johnston. The 29-year-old Dubón hit .278 with 10 homers and 46 RBIs in his first full season with Houston, which acquired him from San Francisco in May 2022.
Relivers Jacob Webb of Baltimore and Phil Bickford of the New York Mets were also expected to have their cases decided Tuesday. Webb asked for $1 million vs. $925,000, and Bickford for $900,000 vs. $815,000.
Teams won the first two decisions of the year, beating Miami outfielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. ($2,625,000 vs. his $2.9 million request) and Los Angeles Angels left-hander José Suarez ($925,000 instead of $1.35 million).
Toronto star Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is the most high-profile case, asking for $19.9 million as the Blue Jays offered $18.05 million. If the case doesn’t settle, it would be the highest salary awarded in arbitration win or lose, topping the $14 million Seattle outfielder Teoscar Hernández received after he lost his hearing last year.
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Critical levers Astros can pull as health concerns, deadline pressures grow
Jul 10, 2025, 3:46 pm
Jake Meyers is the latest Astro to be rushed back from injury too soon. Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images.
Houston center fielder Jake Meyers was removed from Wednesday night’s game against Cleveland during pregame warmups because of right calf tightness.
Meyers, who had missed the last two games with a right calf injury, jogged onto the field before the game but soon summoned the training staff, who joined him on the field to tend to him. He remained on the field on one knee as manager Joe Espada joined the group. After a couple minutes, Meyers got up and was helped off the field and to the tunnel in right field by a trainer.
Mauricio Dubón moved from shortstop to center field and Zack Short entered the game to replace Dubón at shortstop.
Meyers is batting .308 with three homers and 21 RBIs this season.
After the game, Meyers met with the media and spoke about the injury. Meyers declined to answer when asked if the latest injury feels worse than the one he sustained Sunday. Wow, that is not a good sign.
Asked if this calf injury feels worse than the one he sustained on Sunday, Jake Meyers looked toward a team spokesman and asked "do I have to answer that?" He did not and then politely ended the interview.
— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) July 10, 2025
Lack of imaging strikes again!
The Athletic's Chandler Rome reported on Thursday that the Astros didn't do any imaging on Meyers after the initial injury. You can't make this stuff up. This is exactly the kind of thing that has the Astros return-to-play policy under constant scrutiny.
The All-Star break is right around the corner, why take the risk in playing Meyers after missing just two games with calf discomfort? The guy literally fell to the ground running out to his position before the game started. The people that make these risk vs. reward assessments clearly are making some serious mistakes.
The question remains: will the Astros finally do something about it?