Guardians' young pitchers cash in via bonus pool for pre-arbitration players

In 2025, the Cleveland Guardians got big contributions from pitchers Gavin Williams, Tanner Bibee and Cade Smith. 

The trio was rewarded for their performance earlier this week via MLB’s $50 million player pool available for pre-arbitation players.

The earnings are given out based on individual performance along with showing in awards races, if applicable. Payouts for players who don’t win awards is determined by a formula based around WAR. 

Williams received $342,481 while Smith got $295,820 and Bibee got $217,235. Both Smith and Williams made around $780,000 as true pre-arbitration players, while Bibee made $3 million as a part of the five-year, $48 million deal he signed in spring training.

Although no one in that trio earned any away for their 2025 season, their earnings through the pre-arbitration pool speaks to how strong their seasons were. 

Tanner Bibee, Gavin Williams and Cade Smith had great showings for the Guardians in 2025 

Of those three, Williams arguably had the best season, as he posted a 3.06 ERA in 167 2/3 innings with 173 strikeouts. While he led all of baseball with 83 walks, he still came within two outs of throwing a no-hitter against the Mets in August. 

He finally put it all together in 2025 after having the early part of his career hampered by injuries, and he’ll enter 2026 at the top of the Guardians’ rotation alongside Bibee. 

Speaking of Bibee, he went 12-11 last season with a 4.24 ERA in 182 1/3 innings. He started the season slow but caught fire down the stretch as the Guardians played their way into the postseason. 

The Guardians showed their faith in Bibee with that aforementioned contract extension, and he made it stand up with a strong season where he took the ball every time he was asked to.

Bibee’s inclusion in the pre-arbitration payouts is another nice little payday for what would have been his final year of arbitration. 

And then there’s Smith. He opened the season following up where he picked up last season as one of the best set-up men in the league behind Emmanuel Clase before becoming the Guardians’ closer after Clase was placed on non-disciplinary leave. 

Smith ended up finishing the season with a 2.93 ERA with 17 saves in 73 2/3 innings, and should be the Guardians’ unquestioned closer at the start of next season. 

Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes led the way with $3.4 million after putting together an incredible Cy Young-winning season. 

Philadelphia starter Cristopher Sánchez was second with $2.7 million while Hunter Brown came in third with a bonus of $2.2 million