MLB's Arbitration-Eligible Stars Who Are the Biggest Bargains
In today's MLB—where Giancarlo Stanton inks a deal that could pay him nearly double the gross domestic product of the Republic of Kiribati—"bargain" is a relative term.
Still, during their arbitration years, many players sign for less than what the market would bear. Sometimes far less.
First, a quick primer on the arbitration process: Players with at least three but less than six years of MLB service time (or "Super Twos," an explanation too complicated for our purposes) can file for salary arbitration.
If a team offers a player arbitration, and the player accepts, each side submits a dollar figure. The two sides can then work out a deal, either a compromise between the submitted figures or a long-term contract.
If no deal is reached, the team and player argue their cases before a third-party arbitration panel, which picks either the player's or the team's figure. The panel must choose one or the other; it can't settle on the middle ground.
Usually, the player and team reach an agreement before the panel gets involved.
Sometimes the reward is massive. Like the $19.75 million deal David Price just signed with the Detroit Tigers, shattering the arbitration-eligible record set last year by Max Scherzer, also of Detroit.
But, for this piece, we're not interested in that contract. Or in, say, low-cost, high-value utility men or inexpensive middle relievers.
No, today we're looking for players who combine (relatively) low salaries with at least some star wattage. In other words, this arbitration season's legitimate big-ticket "bargains."
Aroldis Chapman
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First off, take a look at this:
Player A: 2.00 ERA, 0.833 WHIP, 36 saves, 2 blown saves, 17.7 SO/9
Player B: 3.08 ERA, 1.057 WHIP, 39 saves, 5 blown saves, 13.4 SO/9
Player A is Aroldis Chapman of the Cincinnati Reds, the Cuban fireballer and ace reliever who singed the radar gun at 103.8 mph last season, per FanGraphs.
Player B is David Robertson, the ex-New York Yankees closer who recently inked a four-year, $46 million contract with the Chicago White Sox.
Chapman and the Reds haven't come to terms as of this writing; as CBS Sports' R.J. White reports, Cincinnati offered $6.65 million and Chapman countered with $8.7 million.
Whatever number the two sides land on, it'll pale in comparison to what lesser bullpen arms are earning—equivalent to the difference between a batting-practice meatball and some vintage Chapman cheddar.
Tyson Ross
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It might be a stretch to label Tyson Ross a fully fledged star, but he's rising rapidly through the MLB cosmos.
Just peep this 2014 line, and picture it inserted into any rotation in baseball: 2.81 ERA, 195.2 IP, 195 SO, plus an All-Star appearance.
Sounds like the type of arm that should be earning nine figures, right?
Soon, maybe, though for now, Ross will pull down $5.25 million after settling with the Friars in his second year of arbitration eligibility, per U-T San Diego's Dennis Lin.
The 27-year-old Ross—along with fellow budding ace Andrew Cashner, who reached a $4.05 million arbitration agreement—anchors a rotation that could actually get some run support in 2015, after the Padres traded for bats like Matt Kemp, Wil Myers and Justin Upton.
One thing's certain: If his star keeps soaring, Ross won't be this affordable for long.
Josh Harrison
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The Pittsburgh Pirates aren't normally at the center of major offseason moves. They're the low-rolling also-rans, the small-market club that hangs in the background shuffling its feet.
So when the Bucs landed Korean slugger Jung Ho Kang, the move understandably attracted attention, as Adam Bittner of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette notes:
"Kang, a 27-year-old shortstop, is one of just a handful of players in franchise history signed from outside the organization to a contract worth at least $10 million over the course of his deal...
Combine that big number—at least in Pirates terms—with the fact that Kang hasn’t played an inning of baseball for an American team, and it’s easy to see why many fans and pundits alike have hailed his addition as a bold leap of faith on the part of general manager Neal Huntington.
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But another infielder the Pirates signed to far less fanfare may have a bigger impact next season.
Josh Harrison posted a .315/.347/.490 slash line with 13 home runs and 18 stolen bases for Pittsburgh last year and helped guide the club to its second straight postseason appearance after a two-decade drought.
On Jan. 16, the same day the Kang signing was made official, the versatile 27-year-old agreed to a $2.8 million contract to avoid arbitration, meaning one of the key cogs in the Pirates' offense could wind up getting paid like a back-of-the-bench guy.
Here's betting he doesn't play like one.
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Josh Donaldson
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If you like WAR, you love Josh Donaldson.
Per FanGraphs, Donaldson ranked sixth among all MLB players in WAR last season, a stat that purports to combine all facets of the game into one tidy package.
By any measure, Donaldson was valuable. The 29-year-old third baseman smacked 29 home runs and drove in 98 for the Oakland A's while making his first All-Star team and finishing in the top ten in MVP voting for the second consecutive year.
Flash-forward a couple of months and Donaldson is north of the border with the Toronto Blue Jays after being shipped out of Oakland as part of general manager Billy Beane's latest fire sale.
As of this writing, Donaldson hadn't come to terms with the Jays; he's asking for $5.75 million and Toronto is offering $4.3 million, per CBS Sports' Brandon Wise.
Either way, as they scramble for supremacy in the wide-open AL East, the Jays will have one of the top players in baseball for a bottom-shelf price.
Stephen Strasburg
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The Washington Nationals just pledged seven years and $210 million to Max Scherzer. So, naturally, speculation is swirling around the Nats' numerous other ace-level arms.
Will Washington trade someone from its stable of studs? Who knows?
Here's what we do know: As much as Scherzer may be an overpay, Stephen Strasburg is a bargain writ large.
The 26-year-old right-hander led the National League with 242 strikeouts last season and eclipsed the 200-inning mark for the first time in his fledgling career, assuaging fears about his durability.
The former No. 1 pick avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $7.4 million pact, per HardballTalk's Aaron Gleeman.
And, he insists, his heart is with the defending NL East champions.
"Stephen Strasburg wants to play here and wants to be with Max Scherzer and grow," Strasburg's agent, Scott Boras told Tom Schad of The Washington Times in response to rumors that Strasburg was ready to move on.
Boras, it should be mentioned, also represents Scherzer. His interest, as ever, is in maximizing his clients' bottom lines.
For now, at least, he'll have to wait on a massive Strasburg windfall.
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