Understanding Arbitration

Okay, so I went over the Giants free agents for this off season here. I then went on to go over the list of Giants players eligible for arbitration in my last post. Then, I could not figure out what I would write about next until it occurred to me that the MLB arbitration rules are pretty complex. So, if you are like I was for most of my life as a baseball fan and just don't get it, I will try to break it down as easily as I can.

• Any player with between 3 and 6 years of major league experience is eligible unless they are already signed to a contract for the next season.
• The team must declare that they would like to re-sign the player for them to be arbitration eligible or the player becomes free to sign with other teams.
• So, if you are still confused, it can be broken down this simply. Any player with between 3 and 6 years of experience in the majors is eligible for arbitration if their current team decides to offer them a contract.

How does arbitration work? This is easy to explain.

• A team decides they want to keep a player who is arbitration eligible so they offer them a contract
• If the team and player can't agree on a salary then both sides sit down with an arbitrator and work it out.
• The team presents what they feel the player is worth and why. The player presents what they feel they are worth and why. The arbitrator then typically settles on something in between.
• Both sides are bound to whatever salary the arbitrator decides upon.

That is it, really confusing but I think it can be understood.