Baseball Toaster Bronx Banter
Help
Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)
2006-01-17 22:48
by Cliff Corcoran

The Yankees have exchanged arbitration offers with their two eligible players, pitchers Shawn Chacon and Aaron Small. When last I poked my head out of my hole to see if winter had passed, I estimated their 2006 salaries at $4 million and $1 million respectively. Turns out I was closer than even I would have thought:

Chacon's request: $4.15 mil
Yankees' response: $3.1 mil

Small's request: $1.45 mil
Yankees' response: $1.025 mil

It seems to me that Small is the more likely to lose his case due to his irregular career path and the fact that the Yankees regularly bounced him into the bullpen, including for the ALDS in which his coin finally came up tails. Much to my surprise, the owners have won the majority of the cases that have made it to arbitration (as the arbiter can only chose one figure or the other, most cases are settled before reaching arbitration with the two parties agreeing on difference-splitting contracts). From 1974-2004, the owners had a .573 winning percentage in arbitration cases. At any rate, the total difference between the offers made by the Yankees and the requests made by Small and Chacon is $1.475 million, or less any member of the Yankees' 40-man roster who has reached his arbitration years will make in 2006 save for Mike Myers ($1.2 mil), Miguel Cairo ($1 mil) and Kelly Stinnett ($650K). Small will join that group regardless of how his case is decided in February.

Nothing to see here. Move along.

Comments
2006-01-18 06:04:28
1.   Sliced Bread
Funny how the Yanks throw money around like horney frat boys with Mardi Gras beads, and suddenly get tighter than latex underpants when it's time to pay two pitchers who helped save the 2005 season, sparing the front-office the embarassment of presenting a bigger 207-million dollar flop than the 2005 version of "King Kong."

Last I checked, our saviors Chacon and Small were still being counted on for 2006 -- and the Yankee pencil-counters are making them do the arbitration lap dance for a combined 1.5 mill?

Maybe somebody can guilt Alex Rodriguez into paying Mr. Chacon and Mr. Small the chump change difference.

A-Waff (as in leggo my fragile ego) has apparently had his arm and psyche twisted into playing in Bud Selig's "Intergalactic Baseball Extravaganza." How much you think MLB will make hawking Alex Rodriguez flip flops?

2006-01-18 08:14:46
2.   Ace Cowboy
I'm with Sliced Bread for the most part, but really I just wrote in to say "Nice post title." Great tune.
2006-01-18 10:22:22
3.   rbj
Split the difference with the pitchers. I think Chacon has good potential to be a very good pitcher for the next few years, there's no need to annoy him with a lowball arbitration offer. $27 mill for 4 years, with an $8 mil mutual option for a fifth year?

So Alex will play. At last, our long national nightmare is over.

2006-01-18 11:10:07
4.   Sliced Bread
Speaking of "Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine), here's A-Rod's new Yankees and Team USA brother, Johnny Damon in today's Miami Herald:

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/13650988.htm

"I want to show the Red Sox that they made a mistake and the rest of baseball that I'm not old -- I'm not washed up."

"It kind of broke my heart, because my heart and soul was there [in Boston]."

Comment status: comments have been closed. Baseball Toaster is now out of business.