NEW YORK -- Chicago Cubs left-hander Tsuyoshi Wada and San Diego right-hander Marcos Mateo fell just short of qualifying for salary arbitration.
Each pitcher has 2 years, 128 years of major league service, and the final players to qualify were a trio at 2 years, 130 days: Washington third baseman Anthony Rendon, Los Angeles Angels outfielder Kole Calhoun and Cleveland right-hander Jeff Manship.
Under the labor contract agreed in November 2011, the top 22 percent of players by service time with at least two years 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 that are eligible.
The cutoff was 2 years, 122 days after the 2014 season and 2-139 after the 2013 season. Teams can avoid arbitration by failing to offer a contract by the Dec. 2 tender deadline, which would make the player a free agent.
Also qualifying as so-called "Super 2s" this year were Chicago White Sox outfielder Avisail Garcia and pitchers Dan Jennings and Steve Putnam; Atlanta pitchers Arodys Vizcaino and Chris Withrow; Texas shortstop Jurickson Profar and pitcher Nick Tepesch; Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Scott Van Slyke and pitcher Chris Hatcher; Baltimore outfielder David Lough; Boston pitcher Jean Machi; Chicago Cubs pitcher Justin Grimm; Colorado third baseman Nolan Arenado; New York Yankees shortstop Didi Gregorius; Oakland pitcher Evan Scribner; St. Louis pitcher Mike Manees; San Francisco pitcher George Kontos; and Tampa Bay pitcher Erasmo Ramirez.
Three players who would have been eligible have multiyear contracts that cover 2016: Tampa Bay pitcher Chris Archer; New York Mets outfielder Juan Lagares; and San Diego second baseman Jedd Gyorko.