Arbitration

phillupi · 12-10-2013, 04:07 PM

How is the days calculated to be arbitration eligible or free agent?

Ike348 · 12-10-2013, 05:18 PM

3 years of service time for arbitration, 6 years for free agency.

When you see "Eligible, but possible FA!" for somebody's arbitration status, that means that they have more than 5 but less than 6 service years.

phillupi · 12-10-2013, 05:21 PM

Thanks. Do they use the 365 days for service to equal 1 year or another number?

Ike348 · 12-10-2013, 08:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phillupi

Thanks. Do they use the 365 days for service to equal 1 year or another number?

I think it's how many days are from Opening Day to the last day of the regular season, 187 or something like that.

phillupi · 12-10-2013, 09:13 PM

I'll try and keep track of someone.

Walkoffman · 12-13-2013, 02:10 PM

I have seen a definition of 1 year of service time as equal to 172 days.

Most players receive salary arbitration the first post season after reaching 3 years service time; in MLB the top 17% in the majors in time served with 2-3 years also qualify. That may be one reason the game lists a player well short of 3 years as "Possibly eligible after this season" after "arbitration status" on the contract/status screen. Another part of the fun of being a GM!

IAmC · 12-14-2013, 05:13 PM

It would be nice if those players who change from Arbitration Eligible to Arbitration Eligible But Possible FA At End Of Season were flagged on the Financial Info screen (maybe a different color or an asterisk). It's a royal pain to have financials all planned out only to suddenly find out that one of your players might be a Free Agent but you don't have nearly enough money to pay them.

ricealum · 12-23-2013, 12:22 PM

If you stay in the majors a full season (including being on the DL) you accrue something like 180 days of service time.

When your clock ticks from 2 years 171 days (I think) to 3 years, you reach arbitration. When it goes from 5 years 171 days to 6 years, you are eligible for free agency.

Keeping track of these numbers for your key players can save you millions of dollars in salary! E.g. players can go from taking up $400k in budget space to $12m overnight. And it's much cheaper to offer an extension to a star player when they are in arbitration as opposed to letting them reach FA.

You can cheat a little. For instance, you can let a young injured player rehab in the minors so he does not accrue service time, but they get mad. (I don't think that affects anything as long as they are in the minors.)

You can also (and I do not consider this cheating) rest starters, esp. SP, by sending them to the minors for a rest (5-10 days, e.g., for a SP would be the equiv. of skipping a start). Doing this once or twice per year can give you an extra full season of service at a bargain salary for a star player.

phillupi · 12-25-2013, 05:44 AM

This sounds like the Tampa Bay Rays way of baseball.

12-10-2013, 04:07 PM	#1
phillupi All Star Reserve Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 814	Arbitration How is the days calculated to be arbitration eligible or free agent?

12-13-2013, 02:10 PM	#6
Walkoffman Minors (Single A) Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Missouri, USA Posts: 60	Arbitration I have seen a definition of 1 year of service time as equal to 172 days. Most players receive salary arbitration the first post season after reaching 3 years service time; in MLB the top 17% in the majors in time served with 2-3 years also qualify. That may be one reason the game lists a player well short of 3 years as "Possibly eligible after this season" after "arbitration status" on the contract/status screen. Another part of the fun of being a GM!

12-10-2013, 05:21 PM	#3
phillupi All Star Reserve Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 814	Thanks. Do they use the 365 days for service to equal 1 year or another number?

12-10-2013, 09:13 PM	#5
phillupi All Star Reserve Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 814	I'll try and keep track of someone.

12-14-2013, 05:13 PM	#7
IAmC Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: New Hamburg, Ontario, Canada Posts: 323	It would be nice if those players who change from Arbitration Eligible to Arbitration Eligible But Possible FA At End Of Season were flagged on the Financial Info screen (maybe a different color or an asterisk). It's a royal pain to have financials all planned out only to suddenly find out that one of your players might be a Free Agent but you don't have nearly enough money to pay them.

12-23-2013, 12:22 PM	#8
ricealum Minors (Double A) Join Date: Jan 2013 Posts: 129	If you stay in the majors a full season (including being on the DL) you accrue something like 180 days of service time. When your clock ticks from 2 years 171 days (I think) to 3 years, you reach arbitration. When it goes from 5 years 171 days to 6 years, you are eligible for free agency. Keeping track of these numbers for your key players can save you millions of dollars in salary! E.g. players can go from taking up $400k in budget space to $12m overnight. And it's much cheaper to offer an extension to a star player when they are in arbitration as opposed to letting them reach FA. You can cheat a little. For instance, you can let a young injured player rehab in the minors so he does not accrue service time, but they get mad. (I don't think that affects anything as long as they are in the minors.) You can also (and I do not consider this cheating) rest starters, esp. SP, by sending them to the minors for a rest (5-10 days, e.g., for a SP would be the equiv. of skipping a start). Doing this once or twice per year can give you an extra full season of service at a bargain salary for a star player.

12-25-2013, 05:44 AM	#9
phillupi All Star Reserve Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 814	This sounds like the Tampa Bay Rays way of baseball.