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Today (Friday) is the deadline for teams to exchange figures for potential arbitration hearings to be held next month. For those unfamiliar with the process, players with at least three (sometimes two, in special cases) years of service time, but less than six, have their salaries determined by a panel of neutral arbiters. The player and team each provide a figure they believe is fair, and then the arbiters decide between those two figures. That whole process — which is one of the most absurd and archaic processes in baseball — can be avoided by teams settling on a deal before a hearing.
In the past, the Red Sox had basically always settled with players. That has become a little more common now, not only with the Red Sox but througout the league. In the past there were a select few teams who were “file-and-trile” clubs, meaning once figures were exchanged they would cut off negotiations and head to trial. With each passing year it is becoming a more common technique from clubs. So, in many cases today will be the last chance for a settlement before a trial. That is not to say any Red Sox player who does not have a firm deal today will end up in a hearing, but simply that it is more likely than it would have been even five years ago.
Anyway, below are all of the Red Sox players along with their MLB Trade Rumors projected arbitration total. We’ll update this if/when we get information on either the figures that were exchanged or a settled deal.
Matt Barnes
Projection: $3.0M
Andrew Benintendi
Projection: $4.9M
Mookie Betts
Projection: $27.7M
Jackie Bradley Jr.
Projection: $11M
Heath Hembree
Projection: $1.6M
Eduardo Rodriguez
Projection: $9.5M
Brandon Workman
Projection: $3.4M
Total Over/Under Projection: -$0.0875M
Update
Andrew Benintendi and Eduardo Rodriguez are the only players left without a deal. It seems they will go to trial.