The 19 stands out because it also means 11 clubs won’t have a hearing.
Others simply can’t help themselves.
The Blue Jays formally offered $5M to Bo Bichette - wayyyy behind his $7.5M filing.
They’ve had a long time to settle between themselves, but to no avail.
A true neutral & objective presence, some would say.
Others would say it’s bullshit.
I explain both sides on the show today which you’re free to find here.
They have to persuade the arbiter that Bo Bichette is worth two-thirds of his opinion.
Imagine asking for 60k to manage the McDonalds and they only give you 40k.
Now you’re probably thinking that Bo Bichette is worth a butt load more than both amounts.
And if so, you are correct.
But this is salary arbitration and you cannevermake more than your service time allows.
These fuckin rules I tell ya.
He’s like 3.05 since debuting in 2019.
That’s from two full seasons in 2021 & 2022 and then another year combined from 2019 into 2020.
Ergo he’s out of the league minimum bracket with 3+ years and into the arbitration process.
This next part’s critical.
you could only compare Bo to what other 3-year guys got paid in their 1st round of arbitration.
Nobody cares that Dansby Swanson just got a truck load of money from the Cubs.
That would be the relevant comparison and I say that knowing it’s not a relevant comparison for Bo.
you’re free to only make what your service time allows.
Bo’s ceiling is Cody Bellinger’s $11.5M from 2020 that followed his MVP award.
Meanwhile his projection is around $6.1M, so it’s kinda ballsy to come in at $7.5M.
And maybe so insulting that the Blue Jays are confident in $5M?
Big enough to really hurt a young man’s feelings.
He’s the one out there playing 159 games back-to-back seasons with a 124 OPS+.
Just a long winded example to get you fluid on how thiskindaworks.
At least enough to now enjoy the following:
Tampa is going to arbitration hearings with SEVEN players.
Just a preposterous amount of arbitration hearings.
But first they need to convince some retired circuit court judge exactly why he sucks.
It’s such a beautiful dichotomy.
The Rays are going to do this to six other players and I love every second of it.
Point is there’s plenty of approaches to this part of the baseball calendar.
That’s not true.
Max Fried is under the microscope yet again for $15M vs. the Braves $13.5M.
Revenues are certainly up.
We’ll see how much the arbiters care.
In the meantime, go check out the Matt Olson interview from last week.
Or something like that.
I always come in peace.
More good stuff coming.
