Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
December 07, 2004
Just Say No

The Red Sox have offered a number of players arbitration, some with an interesting caveat:

By offering arbitration, the Red Sox would receive amateur draft picks as compensation for losing top free agents.

"Some of them were offered arbitration with the understanding they won't accept arbitration," general manager Theo Epstein said.

He refused to say whether Martinez was in that group but said the mere offer gives the team and the players more time to gather information that could affect the decision.

"That simply extends our window," Epstein said. "Sometimes making good decisions takes time."


I wonder what the players who agree not to accept arbitration get in return? Some minimum guarantee that they'll have a contract if no one else is interested in them? If nothing else, the Sox will be well compensated with draft picks if they lose a number of these players.


Posted by David Pinto at 10:28 PM | Free Agents | TrackBack (0)
Comments

Looks like Epstien's working the system, making sure to get draft picks if he doesn't resign the player.

Posted by: NBarnes at December 8, 2004 03:28 AM

No different than Oakland. The Globe had a good rundown on Tuesday of some players that were signed for players like Vaughn and Clemens' departures - they were all pretty much useless.

Posted by: James Mason at December 8, 2004 09:25 AM

I'm not sure, but I think it's not entirely unusual an agreement -- what the player gets up front is the ability to keep negotiating with his current team and the possibility of signing with them. There may also be an informal agreement that the team won't pull the current offer it has on the table.

Posted by: Capybara at December 8, 2004 01:11 PM
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