{"id":6547,"date":"2010-01-24T07:01:17","date_gmt":"2010-01-24T07:01:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/?p=6547"},"modified":"2010-04-02T15:32:45","modified_gmt":"2010-04-02T14:32:45","slug":"rounding-the-bases-arbitration-and-multi-year-deals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/?p=6547","title":{"rendered":"Rounding the Bases: Arbitration and Multi-year deals"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MlbHlSq\"There were no major free agent deals signed and we didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have a steroid confession from one of the biggest stars of the last 20 years, so compared to the previous week the last seven days might seem uneventful.<\/p>\n

However, that isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the impression you would get if you looked at the list of transactions that have taken place.\u00c2\u00a0 The last week or so has been dominated by contract negotiations between teams and players who are eligible for arbitration.\u00c2\u00a0 128 players filed for arbitration on Friday 15th and arbitration figures had to be filed on Tuesday 19th.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘Arbitration’ is the process by which players who have between three to six years of Major League service time negotiate their salary for the upcoming season with their current club.\u00c2\u00a0 They are joined by some of the players who have between two and three years of service time (the top 17 per cent in terms of the amount of service time accumulated) and also any players who would have been free agents had they not accepted an offer of arbitration from their previous team (there were just two this year: Carl Pavano and Rafael Betancourt).\u00c2\u00a0 <\/p>\n

There are three main outcomes to the arbitration process:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. the team and player come to an agreement on a one-year contract<\/li>\n
  2. the team and player come to an agreement on a multi-year contract<\/li>\n
  3. the team and player are unable to come to an agreement, so the case is heard at an independent arbitration hearing to set the value of a one-year contract.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Virtually all cases are decided without needing to have a hearing.\u00c2\u00a0 For example<\/a>, of the 111 players who filed for arbitration last year only 3 cases ended up going to a hearing (Dan Uggla of the Marlins, Shawn Hill of the Nationals and Dioner Navarro of the Rays).<\/p>\n

    One-year contracts<\/h3>\n

    A team normally has a player under control for six Major League seasons at the start of his career.\u00c2\u00a0 During the first three seasons the player\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s salary is determined at a Major League standard rate.\u00c2\u00a0 For the other three seasons the player is eligible for arbitration (note that some players reach this point a year earlier and are referred to as \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcSuper 2s\u00e2\u20ac\u2122).\u00c2\u00a0 The important thing to remember is that the player is still under contract with the team during those final three years (unless the club declined to offer arbitration) so he can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t go anywhere else.\u00c2\u00a0 The only thing up for negotiation is the player\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s salary for the coming season.\u00c2\u00a0 If there was no arbitration element to the process, the club could effectively offer whatever they wanted and the player would have no choice but to accept it.\u00c2\u00a0 The prospect of a potential arbitration hearing means that clubs have to be realistic with their offers.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

    The vast majority of players will reach an agreement with their club on a one-year contract for the coming season.\u00c2\u00a0 Salaries are negotiated based on performance level first and foremost and they also tend to rise each year, so for example two players of the same standard may get a different amount of money if one is in his fourth year and the other in his fifth.\u00c2\u00a0 Some of the most lucrative contracts agreed so far have been:<\/p>\n