Arbitration Monday

As I wait for the Angels Hot Stove season to kick into gear, I had to ask myself… what does it say about a free agent when the Pittsburgh Pirates are supposedly interested in you? Such is the case for Jamey Wright and Justin Duchscherer. I guess any interest is better than none, right? Or is it like taking your cousin to the prom? In any case – I guess I should find it amazing that the Pirates have some interest in any free agents.

It’s been an interesting day so far as the news gets out about who’s being offered arbitration and who's not. Mixed in was a trade; Kelly Shopach to the Rays for a player to be named later and a signing; Phillies sign Brian Schneider. Looks like a "big" day for catchers, doesn’t it?

Arbitration notes...

The Dodgers did not offer arbitration to any of their free agents making Randy Wolf and Orlando Hudson all the more attractive for some teams. It’s a curious move on the Dodgers part since it’s been reported that both players are seeking multi-year deals. Chances are overwhelmingly on the side of them leaving and now the Dodgers won’t have anything to show for it. I’m guessing they don’t want to have to pay any of the players they would be drafting as compensation for the two. That’s the only reason I can see for them not offering arbitration to Hudson and Wolf. Apparently, the McCourt divorce is already having a major impact on the team’s payroll.

Among others not being offered arbitration include all the Yankee free agents, Melvin Mora, Miguel Tejada, Rich Harden, Jermaine Dye, Placido Polanco, Nick Johnson, Octavio Dotel, Carlos Delgado, Garret Anderson, Adam LaRoche, Erik Bedard, Doug Davis, and Kevin Gregg.

Speaking of Kevin Gregg; every time I see him getting a save, I just can’t believe he’s the same guy who used to be used primarily in mop up duty when he was with the Angels. I believe he set a record for wild pitches in an inning too (I’d look it up if I really cared that much). Every time he blows a save (which happens a lot); I say to myself… now, that I can believe.

Among those receiving arbitration include Marco Scutaro, Jason Bay, Billy Wagner, Fernando Rodney, Rod Barajas, Marlon Byrd, Rafael Soriano, Mike Gonzalez, Adrian Beltre, Joel Pineiro, Matt Holliday, and Carl Pavano.

Also being offered arbitration today was Justin Duchscherer. If I'm him, I'm thinking... Hmm. Let's see, the Pirates are interested in me and I've been offered arbitration by the A's. What to do? I wonder if Japan is an option?

All kidding aside, I hate the A's and playing in Pittsburgh would be better than returning to Oakland. Then again, I'm biased. Did I mention I hate the A's?

As a follow up to my last post I wanted to direct you to a great resource for the arbitration process (if my explanation wasn’t clear enough). Check out mlbtraderumors Free Agent Arbitration Primer.

You will find a more in-depth explanation, including a point I didn’t cover: Per mlbtraderumors - the unrelated non-tender deadline is December 12th. That is when teams decide whether to tender a contract to arbitration-eligible players. These players have fewer than six years of service time, and are under team control for 2010 if the team wants them. If not, the players are non-tendered and become free agents.

They’ll be adding a lot of names to the free agent list on that date.

Now, if only that had come out yesterday, I might have taken yet another day off from posting!

To keep track of all the arbitration cases – you should also visit mlbtraderumors list of 2010 Free Agents – which they update regularly. It’s kind of like watching the stock market, minus all the ticker symbols.

Just heard the Angels have also announced their arbitration decisions. John Lackey and Chone Figgins were the only two offered arbitration. I'll be commenting on this later tonight.