Diary of a Diehard

At the stroke of midnight Eastern Standard time the first deadline of the off-season passed. Up until this time teams could offer arbitration to their pending free agents. After this deadline teams can still negotiate with their free agents but are not bound to an arbitration hearing if the sides cannot come to an agreement.

With the ratification of the last Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) two important changes came into play with regards to this deadline. Previously if a team did not offer salary arbitration to their free agent they were not allowed to resign the player until April 30th the next year.

This of course meant that if a team had any inclination to retain the services of a player they were forced into the arbitration decision. This could be detrimental to either the team or the player.

If the player accepted arbitration it became a crap shoot as to what salary they would earn the following season. If the player declined arbitration it’s possible the subsequent contract figures would be less than what they could have earned through arbitration.

The second change with regards to the arbitration process was the awarding of draft choices to the team losing a free agent. This can be fairly complex so let me see if I can explain it.

Each November the Elias Sports Bureau will publish rankings of all Major League Baseball players separated into categories – starting pitchers, relief pitchers, catchers, infielders, outfielders. The rankings are on a 100-point scale.

The top 20 percent of players in each category are classified as Type A players. Those players who are ranked from 21 percent to 40 percent are classified as Type B players. If those players are free agents the classification is “Type A Free Agents” and “Type B Free Agents”.

In an effort to compensate the teams who lose home grown talent to other teams the CBA awards the team losing a player draft picks in the June Amateur Draft.

If a “Type A Free Agent” is offered salary arbitration by his former team but declines and signs with another team the former team is compensated with the first round draft choice of the signing team.

If the signing team has one of the top 15 picks in the draft, they will not lose their first round pick but will instead lose their second round pick. If the signing team signs more than one “Type A Free Agent” the first former team will receive the first round pick, the second former team would receive the second round pick and so forth.

If a “Type B Free Agent” is offered salary arbitration by his former team but declines and signs with a different team the former team will be rewarded with a supplemental round pick between the first and second rounds of the draft.

There are several other nuances to this process which we won’t go into here. The whole process is outlined in Article XX(B)(4) of the 2007-2011 Major League Baseball Basic Agreement.

The key to all of this is whether a team offers arbitration to the free agent. If they choose not to, the free agent is able to sign with any team without the signing team losing any draft choices.

In a sense this process adds an additional burden on the signing team as they will not only have to pay free agent prices in salary but may also affect their draft strategy for the next season.

There is also the fear that the player may actually accept arbitration which means the former team could retain the services of the player but for a much higher price if the arbitrator rules in favor of the player.

After the 2008 season the Diamondbacks faced just that situation. Outfielder Adam Dunn was identified as a “Type A Free Agent” but given the economic landscape Arizona was afraid Dunn would accept arbitration leaving them on the hook for a much larger payroll than they were prepared to have. The Diamondbacks failed to offer Dunn arbitration and he signed with the Washington Nationals without the Nationals losing any draft picks.

This year’s class of free agents was a little different for the Diamondbacks. They had only one “Type B Free Agent” in pitcher Doug Davis. The other two free agents, Scott Schoeneweis and Chad Tracy, were not in either category.

As the deadline loomed Arizona declined to offer any of the three arbitration allowing them to sign with any team without the Diamondbacks receiving any compensation. The decision on Tracy and Schoeneweis was logical and expected. Neither player figured into the Diamondbacks 2010 equation.

The Doug Davis choice was a little surprising. Given Davis’ remarks that he is looking for a long-term contract at a substantially higher salary than the Diamondbacks were prepared to offer in all likelihood meant Davis would decline arbitration.

Davis declining would have at least provided the Diamondbacks with a supplemental draft choice. For the second straight year Arizona’s fear of arbitration has cost the team a valuable draft choice.

During an off-season event last year Dunn expressed his bewilderment as he assured the Diamondbacks he planned to decline arbitration. Rumors are that Davis had likewise made that assertion. Those two picks could have provided the Diamondbacks a larger pool of talent to either use in the minor leagues or trade for necessary pieces.

From the Diamondbacks decisions today it is clear that we have seen the last of Doug Davis, Scott Schoeneweis, and Chad Tracy playing for the home team. It doesn’t answer many questions on what the Diamondbacks plan to do to bolster their roster for 2010.