The uncomfortable reality of MLB arbitration
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Spring training is underway, but that normally joyful return to the diamond may be a bit clouded for the 19 players who just went through one of Major League Baseball's strangest annual traditions: arbitration.
State of play: This year's arbitration window concluded last week, and just six of the 19 players who fought for a higher salary won their case.
- That .316 winning percentage was the players' lowest in a normal season* since 2012 — though it's not as if the winning players necessarily feel great about what they had to endure, either.
How it works: Every offseason, players with between three and six years of MLB service time are eligible for arbitration — a process wherein teams and players each present a salary number for the upcoming season and then argue for it in front of a panel of arbitrators.
- Arbitration can be avoided: Just 33 of the 200-plus arbitration-eligible players this year passed last month's deadline without inking a contract, and 14 of those 33 settled before having to go to arbitration.
- But the 19 players who had arbitration hearings were forced to engage in the uncomfortable dance of not only arguing why they should be paid more, but also listening to their teams argue why they should be paid less.
Between the lines: Among those who went to arbitration were 2021 National League Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes, 2022 American League batting champion Luis Arráez and 2022 All-Stars Kyle Tucker, Max Fried and Ryan Helsley. Not exactly replacement-level players.
- Providing that kind of value for your club only to hear them explain why you deserve less money can be quite the gut punch.
What they're saying: "There's no denying that the relationship is definitely hurt from what [transpired] over the last couple weeks," said Burnes, who led the league with 243 strikeouts for the Milwaukee Brewers last year.
The big picture: While the mechanics of arbitration often yield uncomfortable outcomes, the players' union has no interest in doing away with it.
- "Salary arbitration is a right that generations of players have fought for and defended," a union spokesperson told The Athletic ($).
- In fact, the union tried negotiating for players to reach arbitration sooner during last year's lockout, while the league proposed replacing it with a merit-based algorithm. Ultimately, it remained unchanged.
The bottom line: Baseball is a game, but MLB is a business, and that's perhaps never more apparent than during arbitration.
*Not counting 2022, when the lockout forced arbitration to occur during the season.
