Philadelphia pitcher Kevin Millwood asked for US$12.5 million, while Albert Pujols and St. Louis had the biggest difference among 27 players who swapped proposed salaries with their teams in arbitration.
Millwood, who became a free agent and accepted the Phillies' offer to arbitrate, was offered US$10 million Tuesday.
Pujols, the 2001 NL Rookie of the Year, asked for US$10.5 million while the Cardinals offered US$7 million.
The reigning Cy Young Award winners also submitted big-money requests. Toronto's Roy Halladay asked for US$9 million and was offered US$6.5 million, and the Dodgers' Eric Gagne requested US$8 million and was offered US$5 million.
Sixteen more players settled Tuesday among the 65 who had filed for arbitration last week.
Boston's Kim Byung-hyun got the only multiyear contract, a US$10 million, two-year deal.
Kansas City outfielder Carlos Beltran, eligible for free agency after next season, agreed to a US$9 million, one-year deal, and New York Yankees second baseman Alfonso Soriano settled on a US$5.4 million, one-year contract.
Tampa Bay second baseman Damian Rolls submitted the lowest request in arbitration, US$900,000, and the Devil Rays offered US$700,000.
The US$200,000 spread was the smallest among the players who exchanged figures with their clubs.
The number of players who swapped was the fewest since at least 1990, according to records of the commissioner's office, and may be the lowest total since arbitration began in 1974. The sides have made in effort in recent years to settle potential cases earlier in the offseason, with teams threatening not to offer contracts to nonstarters by the Dec. 20 deadline.
For players and teams who don't settle, hearings before three-arbitrator panels will be scheduled for the first three weeks of February.
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