Shots Across the Bow: Arbitration

Tuesday, 01 January 2013 21:06

Written by Bill Brink

The Rays agreed to a contract with David Price Tuesday, according to ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick, avoiding arbitration and kick-starting a month of salary news and negotiations. Price, the reigning AL Cy Young winner, will earn more than $10 million, according to the report.

Teams across baseball now face a series of decisions regarding whether or not they can reach common figures with their arbitration-eligible players or let a panel choose between two salaries.

Teams must also decide whether or not an extension is worthwhile. Surely the Rays have considered such a move with their ace at some point, but his value is high at the moment and he has all the leverage.

The Pirates will have to consider not only extensions but retention. They will need to determine whether or not it makes sense to offer an extension to Neil Walker, something they have expressed interest in in the past, and whether they will retain Garrett Jones, who will make between $4 and $5 million in arbitration.

The arbitration decisions must be considered in concert with the signings of Jason Grilli, Russell Martin and Francisco Liriano, who consumed a decent amount of the Pirates' available payroll.

It appears at this stage that the Pirates will retain all of their arbitration-eligible players and agree to one-year salaries with them.