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The arbitration process would be a necessary evil in the baseball offseason. Players within three years of free agency undergo arbitration and if the two sides cannot agree on a salary, a three-person arbitration panel selects one of the two figures, the player’s or the team’s figure.
This time around, only 19 players auditioned out of approximately 200 who were eligible. The teams won 13 times with the players taking six.
One of the most contentious things that can happen between a team and a player is an arbitration hearing. It is one of the reasons why such a low percentage of players in their arbitration years go to a hearing. Both sides would generally prefer to avoid it, so they will come to an agreement before the actual hearing. Those who cannot compromise go to a hearing and argue their cases. That means a player is arguing why he deserves a certain salary while the team is trying to argue — with the player in the room — why the player isn’t as good as he basically says he is.
The players who won their cases for a salary higher than what their respective teams offered:
The players who lost their cases:
- Corbin Burnes, Brewers
- Kyle Tucker, Astros
- Max Fried, Braves
- Teoscar Hernández, Sailor
- Ryan Helsley, Cardinal
- Diego Castillo, Sailor
- Ji-Man Choi, Pirates
- Gio Urshela, Angels
- Brady Singer, Royals
- Josh Rojas, Diamondbacks
- Colin Poche, Rays
- Ryan Thompson, Rays
- Genesis Cabrera, Cardinal
One of the cases that attracted a lot of public attention was Brewers ace Corbin Burnes. 2021 Cy Young winner Burnes had another great season in 2022, making the All-Star team again and finishing seventh in NL Cy Young voting. The Brewers went to an audition over $740,000 with the Ace and he came away with these comments:
“You find out your true worth. You work hard for seven years in the organization and five years with the big league team, and you go in there and basically you’re worth a lot more than you thought you contributed to the organization. Honestly, it’s hard to hear, tough to take, but they’re trying to do what they can to win the hearings But of course I think there are other ways they could have done about. about.
“… There’s no denying that the relationship is definitely hurt by what’s happened in the last few weeks. There’s really no way around that. Obviously we’re professionals and we’re going to go out there and our do my job, and continue to do what I can every fifth day when I go out there But with some of the things that are said — basically I put forward as to why we didn’t make the postseason last year — that’s something that probably goes without saying. Go listen without having to do that. There was no attack on the person’s character. Just some of the things that were said that didn’t need to be said.”
Fortunately, the process is over until next year and the focus for the players involved can turn to spring training and then the 2023 regular season.
