The Wonderful World of Salary Arbitration, Part Three

Last week when I wrote about salary arbitration, I left a few things out that I wanted to get to, so that everybody can be enlightened about this process.  I promise, after this one, no more long salary arbitration posts, just little updates when the need arises.

Who's eligible for salary arbitration?

As I've already covered, Type A and Type B free agents are eligible for arbitration, but there are others involved as well.  Players with at least two years and 125 days of big league service time, but less than six full years are also eligible.  Next Wednesday, teams decide of the players that fall into that category, which ones they will 'tender' a contract.  That just means those players are signed for 2011, but without a salary yet.  Teams may also choose to 'non-tender' players who are arbitration eligible, which makes those players free agents.  'Non-tender' is the fancy word for releasing an arbitration eligible player.

How is a player's salary determined?

Salary arbitration is the name of the process that determines a player's salary if a player and his team can not come to an agreement on their own.  Most players who are arbitration eligible negotiate a contract prior to a hearing.  For those that can not come to an agreement, the player and team submit salary figures in mid-January, and usually the player's number is quite a bit higher than the number the team submits.  Again, after numbers are submitted, sometimes the player and the team agree to meet somewhere in the middle.  But if that does not happen, they go before an independent three person panel in February, and the player with their representatives and the team with their representatives argue why the number that they submitted should be the player's salary for that year.  As you might guess, sometimes hard feelings can arise when players hear their teams talk about them negatively so that the panel will choose the lower salary figure.  At this point, either the high number or the low number is chosen by the panel to be the player's salary that year.  There is no more meeting in the middle after they go to a hearing.

Who's arbitration eligible for the Rangers?

The Rangers offered arbitration to two of their free agents, Cliff Lee and Frank Francisco.  They have until Tuesday night to decide if they will accept or decline the offer.  Free agents that accept join the other arbitration eligibles from the team.

The Rangers have seven players with more than two years and 125 days, but less than six years of service time.

• Nelson Cruz
• David Murphy
• Darren O'Day
• Josh Hamilton
• Mark Lowe
• Dustin Nippert
• CJ Wilson

Jeff Francoeur and Brandon McCarthy would have fallen into this category, but they have already been removed from the roster and become free agents.  Esteban German was also eligible, but he was dropped from the roster and then re-signed to a minor league contract.

Obviously Hamilton, Cruz, and Wilson are due sizable raises.

Like I said before, arbitration hearings don't happen often, since most players agree to contracts before a hearing is needed.  The Rangers haven't had an arbitration hearing in over a decade.

I'll be sure to post when the free agents accept or decline arbitration offers and if the Rangers non-tender any of their other arbitration eligibles.  We should have all of that information by the middle of next week.