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ARBITRATION
After 3 years of Major League Service, a player becomes eligible for Arbitration at the end of the year (in early November, when other contracts expire and players file for Free Agency). (Note: Some players also become eligible with almost 3 years of service. The rules are somewhat complicated, but you can use the Scouting Report, Summary Page or Sortable Stats Dialog to see which players are coming up for arbitration). You can avoid arbitration by negotiating a contract extension with a player on your team before the end of the season. If you don't negotiate a new contract before the end of the season, the Arbitration Dialog will pop up, letting you submit a bid for arbitration, or release the player. Baseball arbitration is binding. Both sides submit a bid and the arbitrator picks the one that he feels is most fair. All arbitration contracts are for one year. If the arbitrator chooses your side, the player will be signed to a contract at the salary you entered for one year. If he chooses the player's side, the player will be signed at that salary level for one year. At the end of that year, the player will be eligible for arbitration again (or free agency, if he has more than six years of major league service).
Players are eligible for arbitration if: 1) They have at least 3 years of Major League Service at the end of the season. 2) They have 2 years of Major League Service and their Major League Service ranks among the top 17% of all such "2-year players". Note that the Baseball Mogul Scouting Report will display the year of a player's arbitration eligibility assuming that the player is continually earning Major League service time. For example, a player drafted in January of 2008 and put on your AA team will be listed as "Earning $18,000 through 2009". If this player is on the Major League Roster for the next 3 years, he will become eligible for arbitration at the end of the 2009 season. However, if you keep in the minors, his arbitration date will be pushed back. |
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