Arbitration to None
by Mike GThe Yankees offer arbitration to none.
Pettitte: I guess they figure that they will re-sign him. Not offereing arbitration allows this to happen at at a much lower cost. He probably gets 15-16 million in arbitration based on previous salary. No loss of draft pics when he resigns at a lower price. The only gamble is if he chooses not to pitch for the Yanks, which he said is not going to happen. Welcome back Andy.
Abreu: I guess they just wanted to make sure they didn’t get stuck with him if he accepts. Bye bye Bobby. Bye bye draft pics.
5 comments December 01 2008 8:20 pm | Mike G | Discussion |
I’m ok with these moves. Especially Abreu. It would be our luck that the guy would accept and we would be stuck with him. The certainty of being rid of him outweighs the draft pick in this case. Andy was a close call, but I’ll defer to the Yankees because they must have some indication as to what Andy is doing. I expect it to be quiet until the winter meetings unless there’s a surprise trade that happens.
While I was initially discouraged by the non-arbitration moves, since it could potentially cost the Yankees several draft picks, the reporting is that since talks are so slow this winter, the Yankees and other teams with cash are getting the sense that the market value of players has declined dramatically. So while paying Abreu $16M to $17M for one year didn’t seem like a bad idea two months ago. Why pay that when you could probably get him (or someone like him) for $10M or less. That seems to be the thinking across the board as very few teams offered arbitration to all of their marquee names.
Makes sense. The Yankees don’t need to overpay Pettitte or Abreu and can use their financial might to wait it out and swoop up some bargain prices. The only thing that scares me is the fact that with the apparent slowdown, why is Sabathia taking so long to take $140M?
Sabathia has no reason to sign prior to the winter meetings at a bare minimum. I guess the Yanks will reiterate their deadline to CC at some point – but Sabathia is not signing before the winter meetings. Even if the “market” for Sabathia falls below the 140, I believe the Yanks will honor it because I can’t think of a case where it was reported that the Yankees were going to offer something and then signed the player way below that reported figure. Take A-Rod for example, the Yankees were always pretty consistent that they believed A-Rod was $275 million and that’s what he signed for. They were adamant that they weren’t going to 300 and they didn’t. The Yankees believe that CC is worth (to them) $140 million (maybe they have some in reserve in case others are involved) but unless that happens they are comfortable paying that. Don’t you think?
I don’t think the market will affect Sabathia and Teixeira as much as the other free agents. The market and availability of other options at closer via FA or trade has impacted K-Rod. But everyone else is going to be in for a rude awakening.
I also think that some players are thinking that they would take the arbitration offer and play out the year with the hope the market improves next year. Team most likely anticipate this move and are thinking in the way that Mike T alluded to….no arbitration and wait to sign ‘em for less.
Why have we all started using comments so much? Let’s get our ideas back on the main page. Let’s start replying to posts with another post again. Maybe just use the comments for small one-liners (and non-members).