After signing Joel Hanrahan to a one year deal earlier today, the Pittsburgh Pirates are left with one arbitration eligible player who is without a deal for the 2011 season: Ross Ohlendorf. Ohlendorf and the Pirates exchanged figures yesterday, after the two sides were unable to reach a deal. According to Colin Dunlap, Ohlendorf submitted a $2.025 M figure for the 2011 season, while the Pirates submitted $1.4 M.
From here, there are two roads that can be taken. One is that the two sides meet somewhere in the middle and work out a deal, prior to Ohlendorf’s arbitration hearing. The other route is that the two sides don’t work out a deal, and they go to arbitration, at which point the arbitrator picks one of the two numbers for Ohlendorf’s 2011 salary. I would guess that Ohlendorf would win that hearing, based on the value and price for starting pitchers. That said, I would be surprised if the two sides went to arbitration, as that is something teams and players try to avoid. The last time the Pirates went to arbitration was in 2004, with Jack Wilson.
The 2011 40-man roster/payroll projection has been updated, using the mid-point of $1.7 M for Ohlendorf’s projected salary.
