Several teams will employ a "file and trial" strategy with arbitration-eligible players, meaning they will allow the process to reach a hearing in front of the panel to decide salaries for next season. According to Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal that those teams include the Rays, Blue Jays, Braves, White Sox, Reds, Pirates, and Marlins.
Arbitration deadline: File and trial teams include Rays, Braves, Blue Jays
The “file and trial” strategy often leads to player salaries being determined by the arbitration panel.
Mike Ehrmann
Today is the deadline for exchanging figures with players, so several one-year deals should be announced as teams attempt to avoid presenting their numbers to the panel. Some teams prefer their cases not to be decided this way, preferring instead to come to an agreement internally rather than debating value with their players and allowing an independent committee to choose a winner.
However, there are a few clubs, like the Blue Jays, that believe their firm file-and-trial stance will lead to more dialogue and bring “both parties to the table a little bit sooner.” If players for teams like Toronto, Tampa Bay, and others do not come to a one-year deal before the deadline, both sides will present salary figures to the panel and the independently-appointed arbitrators will begin hearing those cases in Feb. with final decisions being handed out up to the Feb. 21 deadline.
Players like Craig Kimbrel, Giancarlo Stanton, and others have yet to agree to deals with their clubs, which could ultimately lead to the two sides allowing the panel to decide how much they will make in 2014.
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