4 Pirates Avoid Arbitration

Before today's noon Eastern deadline, Adam LaRoche, Zach Duke, Tyler Yates and John Grabow signed one-years deals, avoiding possible salary arbitration hearings. All of their new salaries (yup, even LaRoche's 7 Mil) are in line with what would be expected based on their experience and positions. This just leaves Nate McLouth and Paul Maholm as the only two arbitration-eligible players who have yet to ink new contracts. There have been reports that the Pirates and McLouth have been unable to work out the details of a possible multi-year deal, so I would expect their salary figures to differ by a bit. Maholm, on the other hand, has also been working on a multi-year with the team and there has not been any indication that the two sides are having issues. I would still expect both players to sign new deals before their cases reach arbitration. What does all this mean for the Pirate fans? Not a lot. There is no chance either player will be traded or released before the season and they are both certain to be starters when the season begins. The last time a Pirate player's case went to arbitration (if I'm not mistaken) was Jack Wilson in 2004. He won his case and responded with the best season of his career. So, we'll see.

Update (6:34pm): The Post Gazette reported the arbitration figures for McLouth and Maholm. McLouth asked for 3.8 Mil and the team offered 2.75 Mil. Maholm asked for 3.8 and the team offered 2.65. Not a huge difference really. McLouth's people are probably focusing on his '08 season and the Pirates are looking at his entire career thus far. He'll probably end up with a deal for around 3 and a quarter. Maholm's people also are focusing on last year, but since he has been in the starting rotation for over 3 years, his request seems a little more reasonable. I could see him signing for about 3.25 as well, with a multi-year deal possibly following that.

For a little perspective, the Phillies have Ryan Howard eligible for arbitration. He has asked for 18 million. 18 Million. Let it sink in. His team offered 14 million. The Phillies won't have much leverage if that one should go before the arbitrators; Howard has won Rookie of the Year, MVP and a World Series title in his 4 years. If they settle, it will be for very close to what Howard wants.