Abritration process to get underway

Received a few e-mails on this:

INF Wilson Betemit, RHP Brian Bruney, 2B Robinson Cano and RHP Chien-Ming Wang are all eligible for arbitration. The 10-day filing period starts on Saturday. That means the agents and the teams submit their proposals. The figures are exchanged on Jan. 18 and the first hearings start Feb. 1.

It would be a surprise if any of the Yankee cases went to a hearing. In most cases, the parties split the difference in their proposals. All four of those players are considered signed. It’s now a matter of what their one-year contracts will be worth.

Given their value to the team over the last few seasons, Cano and Wang will be seeking major raises. Cano made $490,800 last season and Wang $489,500.

The Yankees could sign any of the four at any point, to single-year or multi-year deals. While it might be smart to wrap up Cano and Wang, the Yankees usually don’t sign young players to multi-year deals until they have to.

The Yankees actually went to a hearing with Derek Jeter in 1999. He wanted $5 million and they offered $3.2 million. He won.

————

Saw a mention of Hit Tracker Online in the Boston Globe today. Check it out, it’s a fascinating site on the distance of home runs.

News source：http://yankees.lhblogs.com/2007/12/30/abritration-process-to-get-underway/