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Tuesday was the deadline to offer arbitration to eligible players, and most of the time the process is just a formality. A free-agent gets arbitration from a team that wants draft-pick compensation if the player signs elsewhere, and the free-agent usually declines to test the market. Last year, all of two players actually accepted arbitration, which would yield an automatic one-year deal with the financial terms to be settled later. Sounds like a risk-free move, no?
Apparently for the Dodgers, the idea of offering arbitration to any of its seven eligible free-agents was strife with risk, forcing the team to decline for each one, including Type-A players Orlando Hudson and Randy Wolf. Now, instead of taking your oats and enjoying the two possible draft picks that might have come had Hudson and Wolf left LA, there is absolutely no solace for the Dodgers if the two sign with another team. To make matters worse, those other teams do not have to sacrifice draft picks in order to sign Wolf or Hudson, making them even more attractive. The decision to not offer arbitration is one of the worst moves the McCourt ownership has committed not related to free-agent signings, if not the worst. It was common knowledge that the two free-agents would have jumped ship for lucrative deals no matter what, and arbitration would merely ensure some kind of consolation prize. Now, the Dodgers will gain nothing this offseason in the draft market, and may even lose a few key picks if they decide to sign a Type-A player from another team.
The declining of arbitration is also a sign of things to come. The Dodgers assured us, the fanbase, that the day-to-day operations would not change with the McCourt divorce. However, this recent move is a harbinger of doom, the first true indication that money is in fact a problem. If the team was so afraid of bringing back Wolf or Hudson on negotiated deals, then what does this bode for the free-agent market? The rotation is littered with holes, and second-base is still an issue. One can’t help but wonder what kind of cheap glue will be used to patch up the lineup and fill the gaps.
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