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Friday, February 17, 2012

Average raise for players declines

This never would have happened if baseball had a salary cap!

With Gio Gonzalez, Clayton Kershaw and Pablo Sandoval getting the steepest increases, the overall rise of salaries for players in arbitration slowed to its lowest level since 2007.

The 142 players who filed for arbitration last month averaged an 89 percent increase, according to a study of agreements by The Associated Press. That was down from an average jump of 123 percent last year and was the lowest increase since a 73 percent rise in 1996…..

Just 11 players received multiyear contracts, down from 14 last year and the fewest since nine in 2004.

The only players whose salaries went down were Milwaukee reliever Francisco Rodriguez, who went from an average of $12.7 million in a three-year contract to $8 million; and Chicago Cubs third baseman Ian Stewart, who dropped $50,000 to $2,237,500.

The average of this year’s group rose from $1.95 million to $3.7 million, while the average for the 119 players in arbitration last winter increased from $1.68 million to $3.76 million. The total of players in arbitration this year were the most since 150 in 1992.

RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: February 17, 2012 at 11:37 AM | 2 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
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1. Walt Davis Posted: February 17, 2012 at 10:48 PM (#4063850)

Those are some of the most impenetrable sentences you'll ever read.

OK, the average increase for 142 players was 89%. That includes guys entering arb for the first time? That seems impossibly low given the first year guys are going from $400 K to (almost always) at least $1 M. And there are more eligible players this year than last which means more of these big jumps, not fewer.

OK, so it's not the average increase but the increase in the average salary. So, ya got Prince Fielder who made $15.5 M last year, became an FA and replaced in this pool by some reliever who gets rewarded $750,000. Ah ha.

So, take the arb-eligible players (does this or does this not include those already under multi-year contracts?) and they had an average salary last year of nearly $2 M and they will have an average salary next year of $3.7 M. This presumably is because of that growth in the number of eligible players which means a higher proportion of first-year arb eligibles who will make a lower average salary (while getting larger percentage raises) and ...

this is all totally incomprehensible without breaking this down by years of eligibility. If you do that breakdown, you probably find it's meaningless.

2. ptodd Posted: February 18, 2012 at 03:27 AM (#4063918)

Y2Y noise. Also, the numbers are probably skewed because of Ortiz and K-Rod. Such players making this much rarely are "offered and accept" arbitration.

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Friday, February 17, 2012

Average raise for players declines

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