The MLB Players Association announced today that 146 players have filed for arbitration. That list includes all six Pirates who were eligible: Pedro Alvarez, Vin Mazzaro, Mark Melancon, Gaby Sanchez, Travis Snider, and Neil Walker. The process to file for arbitration is only a formality, and isn’t really significant. The significant move this week will be when the teams and players exchange figures on Friday.
Once the two sides exchange figures, a deal usually follows. The sides tend to meet somewhere in the middle. If they don’t meet in the middle, the two sides go to an arbitration hearing. In that hearing they each argue for their salary figure, and an arbiter decides which salary represents the player’s value. The Pirates have gone to arbitration with players in the past, although it is rare. The last player they took to arbitration was Garrett Jones in 2012, and they won the case. Teams try to avoid arbitration, since it avoids a situation where you’re arguing that the value of a player isn’t as high as the player thinks it is. The eligible players are projected to make the following salaries, according to MLBTR:
Neil Walker – $4.8 M
Pedro Alvarez – $4 M
Mark Melancon – $3 M
Gaby Sanchez – $2.3 M
Travis Snider – $1.4 M
Vin Mazzaro – $800 K
