Toronto Blue Jays and Marcus Stroman Set To Go To Arbitration Hearing
The Toronto Blue Jays are set to go to arbitration with their star pitcher, Marcus Stroman. Stroman filed asking for $6.9MM and the team countered with $6.5MM. It may seem petty to squabble with your ace pitcher over $400k, but it's actually more complex than that and there is a lot more than $400k at stake.
If Stroman get's $6.9MM it sets the standard for his future arbitration earnings. Each subsequent arbitration salary will be higher than if he had gotten $6.5MM. That can cost a team a lot over the remaining years of control. Teams are rich, but that doesn't mean they still shouldn't be fiscally responsible.
Stroman's arbitration salary would also sets a new precedent for all arbitration players around the league. If Stroman gets $6.9MM then all other pitchers of similar quality will get at least $6.9MM. The purpose of the arbitration system from the owners' perspective is to suppress player salaries early in their careers. Giving in to Stroman's demands would upset all the other teams in the league because it would raise the bar for what they have to pay players. MLB team owners are a tight knit fraternity and it's best not to step on too many toes.
It may seem like they're squabbling over $400k with one player, but really, the decision will affect all other players who come after Stroman and it adds up to millions upon millions for the team in the long run. Players are entitled to try and get as much as they think they deserve and teams will understandably try to keep that number down.
There are some who think that fighting with Stroman now over $400k will hurt their chances of signing him long term, but that likely isn't the case. The Angels famously gave Mike Trout a mere $20,000 raise for his sophomore season, which his agent called unfair. It may have caused a bit of tension between the two sides at the time, but it didn't stop them from working out a team friendly 6 year $144.5MM contract the next year.
Stroman is a confident player and probably enjoys the arbitration process. He comes off as the kind of guy who enjoys betting on himself. I doubt he will have his feelings hurt by anything the team says during the arbitration hearing, and he will likely only use it as motivation. He is a professional and he realizes it's part of the business side of the game.
The business side of the game isn't pretty, but it's the reality of the situation. Anybody who says they wouldn't act the same way as the team is either lying or just terrible with money.
