Cristian earns an annual salary of $749,100, and according to his contract, he continues to earn $4.6 million until his completion in 2023.
As mentioned earlier, he was not paid much during the initial phase of his career as his pre-draft performance was weak, and he needed to prove his worth in order for the team to gain their trust and secure a higher paying contract. . Even though he started his baseball journey with the Houston Astros in 2015, he wasn’t allowed to make the MLB team until 2020.
The financial contract with the team until this period is also kept secret, so we have no information about his economic earnings between 2015 and 2020. However, according to a survey, the average salary claimed for a league player minor ranges from $4,800 to $14,000 a year, so he could have made any amount of money within that range.
Finally, the big day arrived for Cristian in 2020 as he was set to make his MLB debut with the Astros on July 25, 2020. Along with this new responsibility, he also received a contract from the team that would pay $208,704 for the 2020 season. He had a 3.48 ERA in 54 13 innings in 12 games, including ten starts, for a 5-2 final record in 2020.
He continued to perform admirably on the pitch, and thanks to the ARB clause in his contract, he could negotiate with the team to increase his annual salary if he was productive. As a result, his salary increased from $208,000 to $580,290 for the 2021 season. Javier once again concluded the season with outstanding numbers.
He recorded multiple career highs in 2021, including 36 games pitched, nine starts, 101+ innings, 130 strikeouts, 53 walks and two saves. He finished the season 4-1 with a 3.55 ERA. Additionally, he had an 11.5 strikeout rate per nine innings pitched.
With 30 total appearances, 25 games started, 148 innings played, 89 hits allowed, 52 walks, 194 strikeouts and 3.7 wins over substitution, Javier finished the 2022 season with an ERA of 2 .54 and an 11-9 record, all of which set new career records at the time. In terms of WAR among AL pitchers, he ranked 10th, while his 194 strikeouts were seventh. Also in the 2022 season, his salary went from $580,290 to $749,100.
