Arbitration Monday - the late night edition...

As I mentioned in my last post, the Angels offered arbitration to John Lackey and Chone Figgins. No surprise there. They did not offer arbitration to Darren Oliver and for me, that was a surprise. I didn’t see that coming at all. My first reaction was to ask why not? And then Mark Polishuk of mlbtraderumors.com put things in the proper perspective.

Polishuk writes, "Though L.A. could have received two draft picks as compensation for Oliver had he turned down arbitration and signed with another club, there's also a chance that teams would be scared off by the prospect of losing a draft pick in order to sign a 39-year-old setup man. The Angels didn't want to run the risk of Oliver accepting the offer and possibly earning a healthy raise given his career-best 2.71 ERA and 8 K/9 in 2009."

That makes sense, but then again it shows the Angels cutting costs once more. Is this a good thing? I know the Angels are a financially prudent team, but I’ve never seen them tighten their belts this much. They’ve cut back in their administrative staff and in the broadcast booth. I’m beginning to believe the Angels might not make too big a splash in the free agent market this year. Man, I’d sure like to know what their plans entail.

If the Angels lose Oliver, Lackey and Figgins and choose not to replace them with anyone else; what will the team look like? We’ve become used to seeing the Angels spending some money each off season. Will this year be different? At this point in time, that appears to be the case and I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing.

Let’s face it, the free agent market is somewhat weak and Matt Holliday and Jason Bay are likely to get more money than they’ll be worth. If the Angels stand pat, I’m pretty sure I can live with it. I might change my mind tomorrow, but as of tonight – I’m good. No, really I'm okay with it; at least I think so.

That being said, I will expect them to improve the club during the season if necessary.

I guess the real story in the Angels decisions today is that Darren Oliver’s stock just went up. Teams can sign him without losing any draft picks and who couldn’t use a solid left handed veteran in their bull pen? Hopefully, Oliver will want to come back to Anaheim bad enough to find some common ground with the Angels. Losing Oliver would create a pretty large void in the bull pen, in my opinion. I do not like the possibility of seeing him leave. I really just assumed Oliver would be back. Now, we'll have to wait and see.

Don't you just love waiting? Yeah, me too. Ugh.

So as we wrap up "Arbitration Monday" we find that 23 players have been offered arbitration. You can see the complete list on mlbtraderumors.com.

One last tidbit... Ken Rosenthal is reporting the Braves have signed Billy Wagner.

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.