February 18, 2007
Why Settle?
Here's a good story on why players and teams settle rather than arbitrate, centered around Erik Bedard. Erik didn't want to hear the arguments against him:
"It's always hard," said Bedard, who was warned that the arbitration process can be both contentious and humbling. "Obviously you are not going to take everything seriously. But some things I am sure they would have said, would have stuck forever. That's hard to forget, but we didn't go through that process and I'm happy for it.
And from the Orioles side, they didn't want to upset this particular player:
There was some concern in the front office about the effect a potential arbitration case could have on Bedard's psyche.
"I am of the belief that it is always better to come to an agreement than to arbitrate a case," Orioles vice president Jim Duquette said. "We obviously have a very successful track record when it comes to arbitration, and we're not afraid to go. We will go if we have to. But we certainly don't like to go with our top pitcher from last year. That sends a bad message."
Both Duquette and executive vice president Mike Flanagan believed that one possible factor in Rodrigo Lopez 's 18-loss season was that he might have never fully recovered from experiencing the process.
"As a former player ... I came close to going one time and was not looking forward to it," Flanagan said. "Just the nature of it, players are going to point out good points and we're going to have to acknowledge good points, but also decipher some numbers and whatever way we see it. You just hope that you can avoid it getting there."
Duquette was the Houston Astros' director of player development in 1997, when one of the club's best pitchers, the late Darryl Kile, lost his arbitration case.
"He came back and was ticked off," Duquette recalled. "At the end of the year, because of the fact that they went to arbitration, he [opted] for free agency [after going 19-7]. That's when he signed with Colorado for a million dollars more. [Arbitration] can have long-lasting effects to an organization and a player."
well, when you have a guy listening to his bosses explain to a person why he sucks and is not worth what the player thinks he is, well, it is hard to just think - it's just business and it don't mean a thing. i would think it is REAL hard to forget what you just heard your bosses REALLY think of you.
i always remember that barry lamar Himself lost all 3 of his arbitration cases and you KNOW that wasn't exactly a good think for his attitude problems...
i forgot to add - darryl kile was the last guy the astros went to arb with.
i think drayton mclane learned a very valuable lesson from that - darryl just decided to leave - i think right then and there - in spite of the fact that he was very close friends with most of the guys on the team...
