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With the clock still ticking, the largest salary arbitration hearing in history is still headed for a meeting in the afternoon Monday. According to the Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham (via Twitter), no progress on a contract to avoid salary arbitration is in the offing late Sunday evening.
Ortiz is seeking $16.5 million up from $12.5 million he earned last season. If he were to win his case, it would represent a 32 percent raise of $4 million from last season. The Red Sox have offered $12.65 million, or $150,000 more than Ortiz’ salary in 2011. The mid-point between the two is $14.575 million.
As we wrote on Thursday, Ortiz’ case will be a significant record breaker if it does go to hearing:
Ortiz is the definition of “veteran”. He ended the 2011 season with 13.048 of Major League Service Time (MLST). He’s seeking $16.5 million, which ranks as the fourth highest ever asking figure behind only Ryan Howard (2008 with the Phillies, $18 million as a second-time salary arb player), Derek Jeter (2000 with the Yankees, $18.5 million in his last year of salary arbitration eligibility), Tim Lincecum (this year with the Giants in his 3rd yr of salary arb eligibility, $21.5 million) and Roger Clemens (2004 with the Astros, $22 million as a free agent with 20.142 of MLST).
In terms of offering figure by the Red Sox, the same players hold true. Astros with Clemens, Braves with Greg Maddux in 2002 ($13.5 million), Phillies with Howard ($14 million), Yankees with Jeter ($14.25 million), and Giants with Lincecum this year ($17 million) are the only cases that rank higher than the $12.65 million offered by Boston to Ortiz in the case that has yet to be settled.
And further on Saturday:
Ortiz is sticking to wanting a multi-year deal (which the Red Sox, so far are balking at), and his exceptionally high asking figure work against the slugger. The fact that the Red Sox haven’t been to salary arbitration hearing since 2002 when Ronaldo Arrojo was asking $2.8 million, and the Red Sox were offering $1.9 million. The Sox won that case, and since, have avoided the process. To add, Boston only offered $150,000 more ($16.65 million) than Ortiz made last year. Put the two together (Ortiz seeking such a high amount while the Red Sox offering a lowish figure) and you get the stalemate that as of Saturday, remains.
But, what about those free agents that were offered salary arbitration and accepted, yet the sides went all the way to hearing? How does the Ortiz case stack up compared to those? The best way to describe it is, “Not even close”. Here are the six veterans since 1990 that have gone to hearing with their clubs:
|
Yr
|
Player
|
MLS
|
Club
|
Club Offer
|
Plyr Offer
|
Diff
|
Mid
|
Dec
|
Award Amt
|
|
2007
|
Mark Loretta
|
12.011
|
HOU
|
$2,750,000
|
$4,900,000
|
$2,150,000
|
$3,825,000
|
Club
|
$2,750,000
|
|
2006
|
Todd Walker
|
9.057
|
CHC
|
$2,750,000
|
$3,950,000
|
$1,200,000
|
$3,350,000
|
Player
|
$3,950,000
|
|
1995
|
Mike Stanton
|
6.039
|
ATL
|
$1,200,000
|
$1,750,000
|
$550,000
|
$1,475,000
|
Player
|
$1,750,000
|
|
1990
|
Jim Gantner
|
13.056
|
MIL
|
$1,000,000
|
$2,000,000
|
$1,000,000
|
$1,500,000
|
Club
|
$1,000,000
|
|
1990
|
Dan Petry
|
11.072
|
DET
|
$650,000
|
$1,350,000
|
$700,000
|
$1,000,000
|
Club
|
$650,000
|
|
1990
|
Dickie Thon
|
11.012
|
PHI
|
$1,250,000
|
$1,700,000
|
$450,000
|
$1,475,000
|
Club
|
$1,250,000
|
As you can see, at $3.95 million, Todd Walker’s win over the Cubs is the highest award. Even taking out inflation and market change since 2006, the amount Ortiz would win would be staggering by comparison. His $16.5 million asking figure is 418 percent higher than Walker’s award.
There's nothing that says a deal can't be brokered right up until the hearing is scheduled, or for that matter, the hearing itself rescheduled if the sides think they can reach a deal before that hearing were to arrive, but it's obvious, this salary arbitration case matters... big time.
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 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 writes for Baseball Prospectus and is a contributor to Forbes SportsMoney blog.. He is available as a freelance writer. Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network (select his name in the dropdown provided).
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