Washington Business Daily

What does arbitration mean in mlb. Why is it so important if a player accepts/denies arbitration. ?

How does it also effect teams that sign such a player, doesn't it effect that team's draft selection.

Public Comments

1. I think that Arbitration is when a player wants to try out the Free Agent market but has to take a few bids from his original team. I'd have to look it up. Edit: According to Wikipedia, MLB Arbitration is when Major League Baseball transactions are changes made to the roster of a major league team during or after the season. They may include waiving, releasing, and trading players, as well assigning players to minor league teams.
2. MLB Arbitration is when Major League Baseball transactions are changes made to the roster of a major league team during or after the season. They may include waiving, releasing, and trading players, as well assigning players to minor league teams.
3. Offering a player arbitration serves multiple purposes for a team. Firstly, if the player accepts arbitration, the team is going to keep that player, one way or the other. They will probably pay the player more than they would like, but not as much as the player wants. Most 'A' or 'B' level free agents refuse arbitration because they would rather get the fat free agent contracts that generally permeate the market. However, this brings in the second reason for offering a player arbitration. If another team signs a FA that has been offered and turned down arbitration, they give up 1 or 2 draft picks to the parent team. 1 if it's a 'B' level FA and 2 if it's an 'A' level FA. This means that when the Yankees signed big Tex, the Angels got 2 draft picks from the Yankees. So not only is he getting 180 million over 8 years, but the Angels snag 2 high draft picks out of the deal. Not looking as good a deal as it was at first, hmm? It's another reason why no team but the Dodgers are really seriously looking at Manny. Not only does he want 25 million a year, but if anyone signs him except LA, then LA gets 2 draft picks from them. Ouch.
4. Baseball players are members of a union, which helps them negotiate the terms of their employment with the teams. In that way, it is no different than other unions (steel, auto workers, etc.). Unions and employers in that industry sign a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), and it represents the terms of the employment between the union members and the employers. In MLB, the players are the union members and the teams are the employers. The baseball CBA provides arbitration for two groups: 1. Free agents, which are the players that are not currently controlled by a particular team; and 2. Players with between three and six years service time. The idea of arbitration is supposed to be one of efficiency. It often resolves salary disputes more quickly. Free agents don't often go to arbitration. The team may end up overpaying for mediocre players in arbitration than they would on the free market. They might try arbitration anyway, though, because even if they don't expect their arbitration number to be accepted, there are some technical rules that allow the team to extend a negotiating period to sign them. Free agents may not like arbitration because even if the salary number is good, it is only a one year deal. But the three-to-six year players have the chance to improve their salaries with the clubs, despite being already subject to a contract with the clubs. If there is arbitration, each side (the player and the team) submits a salary figure to an arbitration panel of three arbitrators, who are chosen from a list approved by MLB and the union. After some hearings to get more info, the arbitrator panel picks one of the submitted salary figures, and that decision is binding on the player and team. The arbitrator panel cannot choose its own figure. The panel has to pick one of the two salary numbers. Arbitration is not mandatory. Either the team or the player (if eligible) can choose arbitration. Arbitration only takes place if the other one consents to it. If a player accepts arbitration offered by the club, he goes through the procedure described above and either his salary number, or the team's salary number, will be chosen by the arbitration panel. If a player does not consent to arbitration, he is in the same position he would have been before. A free agent is out on the market fending for himself. A three-to-six player with a current team contract continues to play under that same contract.