Arbitrary Decisions

Dave Paisley

With the annual arbitration season drawing to a close, I thought I?d take a peek at it before it?s old news as spring training gets under way. It?s an odd process ? one where usually fledgling players slowly emerge from the realms of the mandated contract to test the heady air of multi-million dollar salaries. While the money may be a hint of the free agency riches just a couple of years down the road, the arbitration process is far from pleasant ? for either side.

For the player and his agent, however, at least the mental process is straightforward ? get as much money as you can. For the teams, it?s a little different. They have to convey the impression that they really value their players and are reluctantly willing to dig deep for the privilege. On the other hand, they?d really like to get their players signed as cheaply as possible, and so a certain amount of bad mouthing becomes inevitable.

Speaking of arbitrators, here?s a classic case of word bloat. There once (back in the days when Pete Rose? haircut was fashionable) was a perfectly good word for one who did arbitration: arbiter.

arbiter (14th century)
a person with power to decide a dispute; a person or agency having the power of deciding; Or: what a crusty old seadog would ask for in a pub

But a century later, some bright spark decided it didn?t have enough syllables, and thus was born the arbitrator:

arbitrator (15th century)
one that arbitrates : ARBITER; Or: one who used to buy fast food at Arby?s, but now goes to Wendy?s

And it?s funny how we see the word arbitrary these days.

arbitrary (15th century)
Depending on individual discretion (as of a judge) and not fixed by law (the manner of punishment is arbitrary); Not restrained or limited in the exercise of power : ruling by absolute authority; Based on or determined by individual preference or convenience rather than by necessity or the intrinsic nature of something

It seems that the second and third meanings below are more common now, although the role of the baseball salary arbitrator is the first. Well, that?s the theory anyway. But back to our story?

The process is pretty simple ? the player proposes a salary, the team proposes a salary, the arbitrator picks one number or the other. Neither side finds the process that pleasant, so about four in five cases are settled before the hearing, usually at exactly half way between the proposals. Of 71 players filed so far, 53 have come to an arrangement with their clubs. Here?s a list of the 53 with some pertinent information:

Player	Team	2002 Salary	Contract Length (yrs)	2003 Salary	Raise %
Washburn, Jarrod	ANA	$350,000	1	$3,875,000	1007%
Schoeneweis, Scott	ANA	$325,000	1	$1,425,000	338%
Spiezio, Scott	ANA	$2,300,000	1	$4,250,000	85%
Kim, Byung-Hyun	ARI	$762,500	1	$3,250,000	326%
McCracken, Quinton	ARI	$500,000	2	$3,500,000	300%
Dellucci, Dave	ARI	$787,500	1	$900,000	14%
Blanco, Henry	ATL	$1,512,500	1	$1,300,000	-14%
Matthews, Gary Jr.	BAL	$237,500	1	$900,000	279%
Ryan, BJ	BAL	$300,000	1	N/A	N/A
Merloni, Lou	BOS	$290,000	1	$560,000	93%
Nixon, Trot	BOS	$2,700,000	1	$4,000,000	48%
Mirabelli, Doug	BOS	$650,000	1	$805,000	24%
Agbayani, Benny	BOS	$600,000	1	$610,000	2%
LaRue, Jason	CIN	$305,000	1	$1,250,000	310%
Williamson, Scott	CIN	$600,000	1	$1,600,000	167%
Graves, Danny	CIN	$3,525,000	3	$17,250,000	130%
Boone, Aaron	CIN	$2,100,000	1	$3,700,000	76%
Dempster, Ryan	CIN	$2,500,000	1	$3,250,000	30%
Payton, Jay	COL	$363,500	1	$1,850,000	409%
Speier, Justin	COL	$310,000	1	$850,000	174%
Koch, Billy	CWS	$2,433,333	2	$10,625,000	168%
Penny, Brad	FLA	$377,500	1	$1,875,000	397%
Almanza, Armando	FLA	$346,000	1	$775,000	124%
Lee, Derrek	FLA	$2,700,000	1	$4,250,000	57%
Blum, Geoff	HOU	$315,000	1	$1,850,000	487%
Dotel, Octavio	HOU	$435,000	1	$1,600,000	268%
Ward, Daryle	HOU	$375,000	1	$1,350,000	260%
Perez, Odalis	LA	$825,000	1	$3,400,000	312%
Carrara, Giovanni	LA	$360,000	1	$790,000	119%
Cora, Alex	LA	$637,500	1	$1,150,000	80%
Beltre, Adrian	LA	$2,550,000	1	$3,700,000	45%
Jones, Jacque	MIN	$312,500	2	$7,100,000	1086%
Mientkiewicz, Doug	MIN	$285,000	1	$1,750,000	514%
Hunter, Torii	MIN	$2,400,000	4	$32,000,000	308%
Cabrera, Orlando	MON	$2,400,000	1	$3,300,000	38%
Eischen, Joey	MON	N/A	1	$800,000	N/A
Strickland, Scott	NYM	$355,000	1	$950,000	168%
Durazo, Erubiel	OAK	$375,000	1	$1,065,000	184%
Millwood, Kevin	PHI	$4,100,000	1	$9,900,000	141%
Polanco, Placido	PHI	$1,750,000	1	$2,875,000	64%
Herges, Matt	PIT	$375,000	1	$825,000	120%
Walker, Kevin	SD	$267,000	1	$450,000	69%
Winn, Randy	SEA	$1,025,000	1	$3,300,000	222%
Davis, Ben	SEA	$350,000	1	$1,000,000	186%
Guillen, Carlos	SEA	$1,425,000	1	$2,500,000	75%
Moss, Damian	SF	$215,000	1	$1,550,000	621%
Tomko, Brett	STL	$1,300,000	1	$3,300,000	154%
Drew, JD	STL	$3,100,000	1	$3,700,000	19%
Reichert, Dan	TB	$310,000	1	$510,000	65%
Cordero, Francisco	TEX	N/A	1	N/A	N/A
Politte, Cliff	TOR	$250,000	1	$845,000	238%
Escobar, Kelvim	TOR	$2,300,000	1	$3,900,000	70%
Halladay, Roy	TOR	$2,833,333	1	$3,825,000	35%
Averages	-	$1,139,229	1	$3,371,275	210%

It?s most interesting to note that there are no losers on the list. The clubs wanted the players and were ultimately willing to pay them this much. They also know that the players that survive four years in the majors are generally quality players who have been way underpaid up to this point relative to their value in a free market. It doesn?t mean the owners like it, but it beats letting the Yankees get everybody.

The players on the list averaged roughly a 200% average raise. For the record, I don?t see me getting that this year. And for these teams and players that settle out of court, so to speak, they avoid the ill will that often comes with the winning and losing the ruling. And for Jacque Jones and Jarrod Washburn ? well, what?s not to like about a 1,000% raise.

Speaking of rulings and ill will, here?s the list of players who will go through the process unless there?s a last minute deal (and there nearly always is.)

Player	Team	MLB Service	Team Proposal	Player Proposal	2002 Salary	Min Raise %	Max Raise %
Maddux, Greg	ATL	16	$13,500,000	$16,000,000	$13,100,000	3%	22%
Hairston, Jerry	BAL	2	$1,150,000	$1,800,000	$300,000	283%	500%
Mora, Melvin	BAL	3	$1,425,000	$2,000,000	$350,000	307%	471%
Ponson, Sidney	BAL	5	$3,900,000	$4,750,000	$2,650,000	47%	79%
Chen, Bruce	CIN	3	$700,000	$830,000	$300,000	133%	177%
Jimenez, Jose	COL	4	$3,200,000	$3,900,000	$1,937,500	65%	101%
Burnett, AJ	FLA	3	$2,500,000	$3,075,000	$367,500	580%	737%
Nu?z, Vladimir	FLA	3	$1,400,000	$1,750,000	$360,000	289%	386%
Redman, Mark	FLA	3	$1,800,000	$2,150,000	$300,000	500%	617%
Lugo, Julio	HOU	2	$1,500,000	$1,800,000	$325,000	362%	454%
Beltran, Carlos	KC	4	$6,000,000	$6,950,000	$3,500,000	71%	99%
Iba?z, Raul	KC	5	$2,750,000	$3,400,000	$800,000	244%	325%
Hernandez, Orl.	MON	4	$4,000,000	$4,500,000	$3,200,000	25%	41%
Vazquez, Javier	MON	4	$6,000,000	$7,150,000	$4,725,000	27%	51%
Adams, Terry	PHI	7	$2,700,000	$3,395,000	$2,700,000	0%	26%
Simon, Randall	PIT	2	$1,300,000	$1,850,000	$290,000	348%	538%
Garcia, Freddy	SEA	4	$5,900,000	$6,875,000	$3,800,000	55%	81%
Stewart, Shannon	TOR	5	$5,500,000	$7,500,000	$4,250,000	29%	76%
Averages		4.4	$3,623,611	$4,426,389	$2,403,056	187%	266%

You can see that the average raise on this list is also going to be around the 200% mark also. Obviously, the less a player made last year the bigger the chance of a huge percentage jump (hello, AJ Burnett, Mark Redman and Raul Ibanez?)

Greg Maddux? case is a bit out of the ordinary. He?ll earn a ton of money whatever happens, and unless he and the Braves work out a longer term deal, they?ll do it all again next year. Of course, after a slightly off year (hmmm, 2.62 ERA, 16-6, only sign of worry the drop in K?s and innings) it appears that the market (all three clubs Maddux was interested in) was a bit leery of paying top dollar for his services. At 36, though, it?s not like he?s washed up.

And so that?s the story of arbitration this year. Much hand wringing, as usual, but in the end, the players hire a Brinks truck to get the money home safely at the end of the day. Hasn?t it always been like that?

about the author

Anyone out there getting a 1000% raise this year? If so Dave Paisley is ready to take you down the pub. Send him your beverage preference at drdjp@strikethree.com.