MLB · P · Chicago Cubs
Ryan Zeferjahn
B/T R/R · 6' 5" · 209 lb · born Topeka, KS, USA · age 28 · draft 2019 rd 3 · played P 110 · MLB debut 2024-08-25
Last 14 days (through 2026-09-01): 4 G · 4.0 IP · 2.25 ERA · 2 SO · 1.00 WHIP
274 batters faced scored this season His season card →
Scout’s note
Zeferjahn, a 6'5" right-hander drafted in the third round from Topeka, has 173 strikeouts across 125 career appearances, and he's been a regular arm lately — six games and seven strikeouts in the last 14 days.
Note written · FVR scout (GLM-5.2)
What he’s paid
Pre-arbitrationA market fact, not an engine read: what a club decided about him, on the season before this one. Figures from Cot’s, as of .
- 2026 salary
- $0.23Mest
- Tax hit
- $0.23M
- Service time
- 1 yr 38 d
- Options left
- 3 / 3
The deal 1 year $0.8M (2026)
On the sheet: 1 y/$780,000 (26)
After this season, as the sheet has it
| Season | 2028 | 2029 | 2030 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash | Arb 1 | Arb 2 | Arb 3 |
| Tax hit | — | — | — |
Regime read from his service time, not from the sheet — it does not project him past this season. Super Two eligibility is the top 22% of a class and can move this line in a way service time alone cannot see.
Cash and the tax hit are two different rulebooks and are never subtracted from one another — see the payroll board for his club, Chicago Cubs.
A second set of books
The same contract, read by MLB Spreadsheets (Ethan Hullihen), as of . We keep two sources on this because one source cannot check itself.
- Tax AAV
- $0.80M
- Guaranteed
- $0.80M
- Term
- 1 yr
- His class
- Pre-Arb
What the sheet prices each season at
| Season | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 | 2030 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salary | Minimum | Minimum | Arb 1 | Arb 2 | Arb 3 |
A base salary under his own reading, and never subtracted from the cash figure above: a signing bonus lands in one and not the other, so the two disagree on most men without either being wrong. And the sheet does not mark which future seasons are GUARANTEED — a club option and a projected arbitration award are both just a number here, so read past the end of the deal as his forecast rather than as money owed.
The two sources disagree
MLB Spreadsheets has this deal at 1 yr, $800,000 (); Cot’s has it at 1 yr, $780,000 (). They are $20,000 apart on the same number of years.
We do not adjudicate. Both readings are cited and dated, and this is 19 of the 848 deals we could compare — the other 829 agree to the dollar.
The tax AAV above is his number under the CBA’s own rulebook, not the average we work out from Cot’s total. On a contract with deferred money the two come apart on purpose — and neither is subtracted from the other.
Collect Ryan Zeferjahn
If the signal is right, the cardboard usually finds out later. Current listings:
Ryan Zeferjahn cards on eBay →Paid link — as an eBay Partner, FVR earns from qualifying purchases.
Not financial advice. We take positions only after publication — never before. Misses stay on the record.
The Bureau on Ryan Zeferjahn
The scouting press, in their own words
You will not be surprised to find out that Ryan Zeferjahn cuts the heck out of his fastball. https://t.co/4U7DxYyUw8
Umpire favor
-1.8 net runs over 28 graded games — the zone cost the umpire more than it gave, on balance.
The line
Bio & season lines: MLB StatsAPI · refreshed nightly · abbreviations →