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I'm supprised that Heilman was signed. Does this mean that he will most likely not get traded?

I like O.P. I hope they come to an agreement.

Tyler - This has no affact on if Heilman will be traded or not. During a players arbitration years are when they first get the chance somewhat determine their value. Prior to arbitration a player has no say in what he feels he deserves. Only players signed as free agents can not be traded for the first 2 1/2 months of the season. Arbitration signings have no affact on a players chances of getting traded.

As much as I dislike Heilman and his whining, he's a huge part of a weak bullpen.Maybe we can pick up another reliever who is in their "cast off" year like Chad Bradford was. Omar really found a diamond in the rough with that one...

Hey, im not sure how the whole arbitration thing works, but dont all these guys get signed anyways? does someone decide who has the correct value of the player and give them that salary?

Im not too sure about arbitration either...it's somewhat annoying to understand. However, i do understand that the mets need to sign perez...heilman's inked, and pagan could be a new endy chavez, as much as i like him.

I believe arbitration(please correct me if I'm wrong anyone.) is basically the player and the team submit what each of them think they are worth and present their case to an impartial 3rd party(arbitrator) who then decides what the final salary SHOULD be. I think it falls in between both numbers somewhere...
Again,I'm not familiar with all the details but I believe this may be the gist of it...

Being a sports business man arbitration is something I’m very familiar with. There are two forms of arbitration. The first kind is for those with 3-5 years of major league service. There is also what is called “Super two’s, which are players that have 2 years and at least 86 days of service time and are in the top 5% of their position. This form of arbitration is a players right, if he is eligible then he must file by the filing deadline, if he does not file, which never happens, then the team can renew his contract like they do in years two and three. The players and team will submit their offers and many will eventually come to an agreement at the half way mark. If the case goes to an arbitrator then there are only two possible outcomes. If the player wins the case then he gets the number he asked for, if the team wins the case then the player will receive the salary the team offered, there is no negotiating at this point and no half way agreements, its one or the other. Players and the team usually try to avoid a hearing because many times it causes bad blood between the two and could lead to the player leaving when he becomes a free agent. This form of arbitration IS NOT an offer it is a right they have as stated in the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Many fans mistakenly say that a player was offered arbitration which in this case is NOT true.

The other form of arbitration is an offer that free agents receive that affects whether or not he will be worth compensation if signed by another team. If the player accepts the arbitration offer then he is signed for 1 year and has to go through the process above.

You need to understand a few things as well…..

1. A year of service is based on 150 days on the 25 man roster (September call ups do not count towards service time nor does being on the 40 day DL, 15 day DL does count towards service time).

2. Players with less then 3 years are at the mercy of their team, these players have no say in what they earn, although the player and the team will often try to negotiate a salary as good faith. They will receive the $390,000 minimum salary in their rookie year and then will receive a few grand raise in years two and three.

3. Rookie status is determined by a 130 AB mark, when a player reaches his 130th AB that season is deemed his rookie season. For example if a player had 45 AB’s in 2005, 65 AB’s in 2006 and 70 AB’s in 2007 then 2007 would be considered his rookie season.

4. Non Tendered free agents are tied directly to those eligible for arbitration and those that are out of minor league options. Through arbitration a player can not receive more then a 15% cut from his previous season’s salary. Many players that are out of options will be non tendered and then resigned to minor league deals thus eliminating the option rule. In the case of arbitration the option to non tender the player can save the team a lot of money. For example say a player received $6 million in his 2nd year of arbitration then went 1-6 with an ERA of 6.75 and missed a large part of the season do to injury. Now this pitcher had a very good career from years 1-4 but coming off an injury a team knowing that this player can not receive more then a 15% cut in the previous season $6 million salary and by no means want to risk having to pay him a raise then they non tender him and may resign him at a much smaller salary. Johnny Estrada is a good example, he received $3.4 million in arbitration last year and was going to get around $5-$7 million in arbitration this year, obviously the Mets have no intentions of paying a backup that kind of money so they non tendered him.

5. During the 6 years of service time a player need to earn in order to become a free agent and no point do they technically sign a contract per say. A player basically receives consecutive 1 year deals, what needs to be determined in the players’ salary. In Aaron Heilman’s case he was not exactly signed to a 1 year deal, what happened was he basically had his salary determined for that 1 year deal, if that makes any sense. Oliver Perez is signed for 2008 he just doesn’t have a determined salary as of this moment. If your where to look at the Mets currently payroll you will not see Perez, Church and others because their salaries aren’t determined yet although they are under contract.

This is what he Mets current payroll looks like

Carlos Delgado - $12,000,000
Billy Wagner - $10,500,000
Carlos Beltran - $10,000,000
Pedro Martinez - $9,500,000
Moises Alou - $7,500,000
Orlando Hernandez - $6,500,000
Luis Castillo - $6,000,000
David Wright - $5,000,000
Brian Schneider - $4,900,000
Jose Reyes - $4,000,000
Scott Schoenewies - $3,600,000
Ramon Castro - $1,850,000
Aaron Heilman - $1,200,000
Matt Wise - $1,200,000
Marlon Anderson - $1,050,000
Damion Easley - $950,000
Duaner Sanchez - $850,000
----------------------------------------
Total - $86,600,000

6. The single most misunderstood rule of arbitration is that only free agents are “offered” arbitration. Those with 3-5 years of service are “eligible to file” for arbitration.

wow thanks for that post, MetsMan, very helpful!!

you know what's crazy: list those 17 players according to their expected value to the team in 2007, and it has a very weak correlation with their salary values... obviously there are reasons for that, but i'm just sayin