Hot Stove Lunch: Red Sox continue to chip away at salary arbitration

Today should be a busy day for the Red Sox.

Actually, it's going to be a busy day for almost every team. But for the Red Sox, it's going to be particularly busy.

Today is the days players and teams exchange salary arbitration figures, and the Sox have one of the longest lists of eligible players.

Already, four players have settled on terms to avoid the process: Blake Swihart ($900,000); Steven Wright ($1.35 million); Heath Hembree ($1.31 million) and Tyler Thornburg ($1.75 million).

It's quite possible -- likely, even -- that more players will reach agreements before the 1 p.m. deadline to exchange figures.

If a Red Sox player isn't signed by then, the case will go to arbitration. The Red Sox, like many teams across the game, have instituted a policy of "file-and-trial'' -- meaning negotiations stop once salary figures are exchanged and the team is committed to going to a hearing.

Of course, it's also highly unlikely that the Sox reach agreement today with some of their top players on the list, led by Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts and Jackie Bradley Jr. The more dollars at stake, the less likely it is a settlement gets reached.

We wrote about Betts Thursday night, as his case will be among the most scrutinized in the game, given his high profile and big salary.

But big dollars are due Bogaerts and Bradley, too, with the former pegged at $11.9 million by MLBTradeRumors.com and the latter slated at $7.9 million. Bogaerts is in his final year of salary arbitration this year, set to hit free agency after the upcoming season while Bradley has another year to go before reaching free agency (along with Betts) after 2020.

Others on the docket: Eduardo Rodriguez, Brock Holt, Sandy Leon, Brandon Workman and Matt Barnes.

Add it all up, and the Red Sox could be forking over $60 million or so to the dozen players eligible.

Check back here throughout the day as we update and provide the numbers as they become available.

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AL WEST

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NATIONAL LEAGUE

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