Blue Jays’ Heineman, Barger, Lukes among recipients of 2025 pre-arbitration bonus pool

Photo credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
By Thomas Hall
Nov 25, 2025, 17:00 EST
A trio of Toronto Blue Jays are slated to receive an extra bit of cash this winter.
Major League Baseball announced its 2025 recipients of the pre-arbitration bonus pool on Tuesday, per the Associated Press, with Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes receiving a record-breaking $3.4 million — surpassing Kansas City Royals star Bobby Witt Jr.’s previous record of approximately $3 million.
The $50 million pool will be split by 101 total players, according to the report. Players are eligible to receive bonuses for winning an MVP or Cy Young Award, as well as second, third, fourth and fifth-place finishes. They can also become eligible for a first or second-place finish in Rookie of the Year voting or all-MLB teams.
Any funds remaining are distributed between pre-arbitration players using a WAR formula, which determined that three Blue Jays were eligible to receive bonuses: catcher Tyler Heineman, infielder/outfielder Addison Barger and outfielder Nathan Lukes.
Here are the amounts that those three will receive:
- Tyler Heineman: $304,942 USD
- Addison Barger: $248,511 USD
- Nathan Lukes: $222,545 USD
Heineman will gain arbitration eligibility for the first time in his career in 2026. But since he was still a pre-arbitration player during the ’25 season, he remained eligible for this winter’s bonus pool.
Lukes will become eligible for arbitration after next season, while Barger isn’t eligible until 2028.
For those wondering, rookie Trey Yesavage is currently scheduled to become arbitration-eligible in 2029.
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