Tonight’s deadline to change the math has come and gone. Most arbitration-eligible players have agreed to contracts to avoid going to court. There are 17 cases where the player and the team did not agree.
Technically, there is nothing preventing players and teams from continuing to negotiate. However, almost all teams take a “file-and-test” approach to the process. Clubs will strongly refuse to continue negotiating one-year deals after this date. They will usually make exceptions for negotiations involving multi-year contracts or one-year deals with a team/partnership option. It’s unlikely that all of these players will eventually get to their ears, but most will.
When the parties go to court, a three-person arbitration panel will select a player or team number. They cannot choose a middle ground. That’s designed to prevent parties from getting stuck by putting in prices that are too high or too low. The preferences of groups in the form of file and test follow the same logic. The idea is to prevent players from submitting a high number that they can continue to negotiate until the hearing begins.
List of players who could take the court this winter (time of service in parentheses):
Angels
Brewers
Cardinals
Cubs
The Dodgers
Foreigners
The Orioles
Padres
Pirates
Radiation
Red Sox
The Yankees
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Tucker and the Cubs have the largest gap in cap space at $2.5MM. He is one of the top two free agents in next year’s class and is unlikely to sign an extension, so they are likely headed for an audition. King, who will be one of the top pitchers on the open market next winter, is the only other player with more than $1MM at stake depending on the results of the auditions. The smallest difference is a small $150K gap between Rengifo’s and the Angels’ fill-in figures. The hearing is scheduled to begin on January 27 and continue until February 14.
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