TEMPE, Ariz. -- Outfielder Brian Goodwin had his arbitration hearing with the Angels on Wednesday and said on Thursday that he’s ready to put it past him despite the inherent difficult nature of arbitration cases. Goodwin won the case and he will be paid a salary of $2.2 million.

Goodwin attended the hearing at a hotel in the Phoenix area, and he said it was difficult to hear the Angels make their case as to why he shouldn’t receive the higher salary submitted to the three-person arbitration panel. General manager Billy Eppler was not present, but several other top Angels front-office employees were there, according to Goodwin, and he had to hear about his deficiencies and why he wasn’t worth the higher salary as part of the process.

“Obviously, you look at yourself one way, you see yourself and you know who you are as a player,” Goodwin said. “You know what you bring to the table, what kind of work you put in. And that's your identity. That’s the way you identify yourself and anybody that kind of goes against it, whether it be for the sake of winning the argument or whether it's what they believe, obviously, it’s not easy.”

Goodwin, though, said he’s not taking any of it personal because it’s all part of the process. If anything, he said he knows more what parts of his game he can improve after hearing the Angels’ arguments.

“There’s not really room to have hard feelings or feel any type of way because you know walking in there what you’re getting yourself into,” Goodwin said. “It changes a little bit, but it doesn't leave you with a bad taste in your mouth. They went in there for the same thing as we did, let’s go to war.”

Goodwin, 29, is coming off a season in which he hit .262/.326/.470 with 17 homers, 29 doubles, 47 RBIs and seven stolen bases in a career-high 136 games. He’s competing with No. 1 prospect Jo Adell for the starting right field job, but Goodwin is considered the favorite after his solid season in ’19. Adell, ranked as the No. 5 overall prospect by MLB Pipeline, remains more likely to head to Triple-A Salt Lake.

Goodwin has already earned high praise from new manager Joe Maddon, who liked Goodwin as a player during his time with the Nationals from 2016-18 before he joined the Angels on a waiver claim from the Royals the day before Opening Day last season.

“He’s a nice player,” Maddon said. “There’s a little pop in that bat. There’s a lot of energy in the player himself. He’s a fine defender. He runs well. He’s a nice baseball player. When I saw him with the Nationals, I kind of liked the whole thing. To get a chance to work with him, I’m eager to see what that feels like. I’ve liked him for a bit.”

Goodwin was able to have a normal offseason with a different focus than 2019, when he made it a point to shed weight to improve his speed. He also made several changes to his swing heading into last season, but now he feels more comfortable with where he’s at, given his success last year. But he knows the starting job in right field isn’t guaranteed.

“My offseason was pretty much the same,” Goodwin said. “A lot less weight loss. Other than that, I approached it the same way. I might not have a job heading into Spring Training, but I can fight for one. The better position I put myself in from my work in North Carolina, the better position I’m in to compete and win it. I just had a laser focus on training.”