A's, Josh Reddick Appear Unable to Avoid Arbitration Hearing

Reddick a No-Show At A's Fan Fest on Saturday Leaves Fans Wondering, "Why?"

Oakland Athletics right fielder Josh Reddick was suddenly and mysteriously absent from the Athletics' Fan Fest Saturday. Schedule to appear along with many of his teammates, Reddick sent out a couple of  last minute tweets Friday night, 

@JoshReddick16 Hey A's fans. Sorry I couldn't make it out there today. Just didn't work out for me this year. Ready to get back to winning another AL west

@JoshReddick16 title and go even farther this year! See y'all in the spring!

Truly, his absence can be attributed to anything from him being tired or his having another last minute engagement. Some of his twitter followers even speculated that it could have something to do with his off season left wrist surgery. That scenario is very unlikely. The surgery was reportedly very successful and Reddick is expected to report to spring training, in less than two weeks, completely healthy.

A more likely scenario is that Reddick was a no-show at Fan Fest because he has yet to negotiate a contract with the team for 2014. It is looking as though he is going to end up taking the team all the way to an arbitration hearing. These hearings are not pleasant as the team must explain why the player does not deserve the amount of money he is asking for and the player must make a case that he does deserve a higher amount of money than the club is offering. These proceedings, presided over by a panel of three judges, often cause unpleasantness between the two parties as the club must note negative things in their side of the argument. When asked if the looming arbitration hearing had anything to do with Reddick's absence at Fan Fest, A's general manager, Billy Beane said only, 

 I have no idea. I know he's a signed player. That's why it's not a big deal."

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