For anyone that followed the news in baseball today, there's little denying that salary arbitration was its sole focus. There were 110 salary arbitration eligible players this morning when the sun rose, and by the time the time arrived today for clubs and players to exchange salary figures arrived, there were 44 players, and even then, some of the players that filed reached deals shortly thereafter (a breakdown of the salary figures are forthcoming)

Today, I begin a 3-part series of articles for Yahoo! Sports on the process unique in all of sports. Part 1 is entitled: Evolution of salary arbitration: an ironic tale

Here is an excerpt:

Somewhere in the afterlife, Charlie Finley and Dick Meyer must be shaking their heads and muttering “we warned you.” Back in 1973 they predicted what would happen if owners abandoned a take-it-or-leave-it stance with players and agreed to salary arbitration. Maybe it was inevitable. Maybe free agency was inevitable as well. But this scrawny, long-haired San Francisco Giants pitcher they call The Freak could increase his salary 20-fold in one year! What would Tom Seaver have earned after going 25-7 in his third season?

Look for Part II on Tues. the 26th

RELATED CONTENT:

• MLB Salary Database
• Salary Arbitration Filings
• Salary Arbitration Figures
• Arbitration Scorecard

Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey. He is available for hire or freelance. Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network.

Follow Maury Brown on Twitter

Follow The Biz of Baseball on Twitter

Follow the Business of Sports Network on Facebook

Comments (3)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Confusing "gaps" and "increases"???
written by LynchMob, January 20, 2010

Your column is very confusing to me ... it seems to be mixing "the gaps between offering and asking figures " with "salary increase" ... who cares what a players percentage "salary increase" is? That's just a function of how underpaid he was last year! The arbitration process still results in players making less money than if they were a free agent ... doesn't it? Don't you think Tim Lincecum on the open market would make more than $13M in 2010? I sure do ...

So tell me what "Charlie Finley and d**k Meyer must be shaking their heads and muttering" about?

The "system" (ie. players make minimum wage for 2-3 years, then whatever they can get via arbitration for another 3-4 years, then whatever they can get via free agency for the rest of their careers) seems to be working pretty fine to me ... seems to be a good balance for teams and players ... and gives "low budget" teams a way to have "below market value" players for a while ...

What am I missing?

• 
• +0
• 
• 

...
written by Maury Brown, January 20, 2010

Hey LynchMob,

Let's clarify... The owners are shaking their heads because the initial intent of the owners voting for the process was the ability to keep salaries down, and keep free agency at bay, both of which did not happen... with exceptions.

In the sense that players are artificial constrained before entering arbitration. This might certainly be true for Lincecum or other star players, but rank and file players have benefited tremendously through the process, especially given that there is no market correction due to the economy, such as we are seeing in the free agency market.

All of this will be addressed in the next installment.

• 
• +0
• 
• 

nonsensical
written by mark415, February 07, 2010

LMob got it right. The percentages are irrelevant.

The author, who appears fairly clueless about baseball and marketplaces, makes it seem to be a travesty that Lincecum might make $13 million after two straight Cy Young seasons.

That's lunacy. Even if the Giants "lose'' in arbitration, they still win because they own Lincecum's rights.

Last year, he was the reigning Cy Young winner, and he made only $650,000 -- the No. 4 salary in the Giants' starting rotation. The team's eighth-inning reliever, Jeremy Affeldt, made more than four times as much.

Whatever the owners think they lose through arbitration, they gain even more through the service-time limitations on free agency.

Finally, Brian Sabean doesn't give a crap about whether the team wins or loses the arbitration. He's the GM. It's not his money, and his budget for signing other players has already been set, regardless of the money Lincecum gets in arbitration.

And if having a third-year player with an MVP award or two Cy Youngs really vexed the Phillies and Giants, they need to get a grip.

• 
• +0
• 
• 

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (registered users only)

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment