Re: Miners Arbitration Eligible Players
Reply #3 –
So I gotta ask the "Why?" question. I'm assuming most arb-eligible players are retained. Is it the other way around? Also, in MLB, an arb-eligible player is never considered a free agent.
Honestly, it's really not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. But owners have different ways of prepping for free agency, and one of the more enjoyable things about Mutiny for me is prepping for free agency. My spreadsheets are fun. I'm baseball-nerdy like that. So, since Saturday morning, when I got done removing all the 2023 contracts, I went to work on reports of "free agents" in my areas of need. I didn't even think to consider that about half of them aren't even free agents. So my spreadsheet is now littered with guys who I can't have.
So, if the answer to the "why" question is that a strong majority of arb-eligible players are declined arbitration, I get that. But unless it's more than half (and I'd even argue a strong majority, cuz you just have to put them back eventually), I'm a little lost as to why it's even done at all.