CARLSBAD, Calif. -- Cincinnati outfielder Scott Schebler and Texas pitcher Matt Bush just missed the cutoff for salary arbitration eligibility, while Chicago Cubs pitcher Carl Edwards Jr. and Toronto pitcher Joe Biagini earned the final spots.
The Major League Baseball Players Association said Thursday the cutoff for eligibility this winter is 2 years, 134 days of major league service -- up from 2 years, 123 days last year.
The top 22 percent of players with at least two years of service time, but less than three, are eligible for arbitration as long as they had at least 86 days this year. They join the older group of three- to six-year players.
Players and teams are scheduled to exchange proposed salaries on Jan. 11, and hearings for those lacking agreements will be scheduled for Jan. 28 to Feb. 15 in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Twenty-five players are eligible as so-called "super 2s," with New York Yankees pitcher Luis Severino topping the list with 2 years, 170 days of service time.
The group also includes Detroit pitcher Michael Fulmer, the 2016 AL Rookie of the Year, and Oakland left-hander Sean Manaea, who pitched a no-hitter against Boston in April and had season-ending surgery on Sept. 19 to repair the labrum in his pitching shoulder.
Atlanta Braves left-handed Jacob Lindgren, who missed 2018 while recovering from Tommy John surgery, would have been eligible at 2 years, 134 days, but he was sent outright to Triple-A on Oct. 31.
Other players who would have been eligible had they remained on 40-man rosters were outfielder Alex Dickerson (San Diego), catcher Carlos Perez (Texas), pitcher Jose Ramirez (Atlanta) and infielder Jefry Marte (Los Angeles Angels).
Arizona infielder Ketel Marte also would have been eligible, but he will earn $2 million in the second season of a $24 million, five-year contract.
