Courtesy of The Biz of Baseball: Your Arbitration Scoreboard

Are you like me, nervously twitching in the corner of your room, clutching a February 2010 calendar in your hand with Wednesday and Thursday of this week circled in red– perhaps in blood – repeating a simple three-word phrase over and over again?↵↵Pitchers and catchers. Pitchers and Catchers. PITCHERS AND CATCHERS.↵

↵↵I know it’s only been three months since the season ended, but it’s almost too much to handle. Sure, the NFL season is long, but there are only 16 box scores a year. And yes, the NBA and NHL are a part of fans’ lives for much of the year, but they are both half as many dates as baseball. The players, the announcers, the mascots, even the morons who sit behind the plate every night and wave to their friends at home, become a part of your daily routine. It’s a lost feeling without them.↵

↵↵But in two days, they’re back. Until then, we’re still tied up with the business side of things, which brings us to a very interesting post at, conveniently enough, The Biz of Baseball.↵

↵↵Maury Brown at The Biz of Baseball has a running tally of every MLB arbitration hearing, including which side won (player/team), what the figures were for both sides and even the names arbitrators presiding over each case. This year, there are just four cases up for arbitration, with Brewers outfielder Corey Hart winning his case and Rays outfielder B.J. Upton losing his in the two decided thus far. Outfielder Cody Ross of the Marlins has his hearing today, while pitcher Wandy Rodriguez of the Astros is set for Wednesday. And that’s it.↵

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↵↵A superstar player like Tim Lincecum could have tried to extend Howard’s arbitration success by going to arbitration himself this season, but he signed a two-year $23 million dollar deal to buy out the next two years of arbitration eligibility, which is really no fun if you believe the rumors from back in November that suggested Lincecum should submit an arbitration number of more than $23 million for one year – higher than the highest paid pitcher in the game.↵

↵↵The fact of the matter is, most cases are settled before they get to a hearing, which avoids a lot of tension and, frankly, hurt feelings with a player already on the roster. To the fanbase of a team, watching your star player go through arbitration hearings can be excruciating. But to the outsider, arbitration hearings are always fun to track. Brown took his arbitration tally back to the beginning, recording every single team’s arbitration history since the program was introduced in 1974. It’s pretty neat (yes, still nervously twitching in the corner). Here are some highlights:↵

↵↵• Tampa Bay is the only team to win every arbitration case it has entered (5-0), with Arizona, Colorado and Philadelphia – against Howard – being the only teams with just one loss.↵
↵• Arizona also has the fewest wins, facing just two arbitration hearings in its brief history.↵
↵• Teams have won 57 percent of all cases. There are only four teams that have lost more cases than they’ve won: Florida (3-4 record), Oakland (17-18), San Francisco (2-4) and Detroit (6-14).↵
↵• There is no statistical significance to market size in determining the frequency of arbirtration hearings. Oakland leads MLB with 35 cases, with Cincinnati at 31, the Nats/Expos at 30 and Minnesota at 28. That said, the Yankees, Mets, Angels, Braves, White Sox, Tigers and Dodgers have all been involved in 20 or more cases.↵

↵↵Your favorite team may not win on the field, but there’s a good chance it’s beating its own players at the negotiating table. That’s good, right? At least good enough until pitchers and catchers report.↵

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