It's a MIRACLE! Reddick and the Athletics Avoid Arbitration!!

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As an A's fan, recently,  I have expressed my displeasure that the arbitration situation between RF Josh Reddick, 26, and the Oakland Athletics was going to be taken all the way to an arbitration hearing, one there was no way Reddick was going to win. He asked the Athletics for $3.23 million after a dismal year in 2012 and wouldn't accept the A's offer of $2 million.

Reddick has been compensated well over his four year career first with the Boston Red Sox and then with the Athletics. Last season made $510,000 and has made well over a million dollars professional career.

MLB.com's Jane Lee just reported that the Athletics and Reddick have avoided arbitration with a one year deal. The details of his salary have not been released but it is expected to be around the midpoint of the two offers at about $2.625 million.

This is great news for the Athletics. Arbitration hearings do not always end with the warmest of feelings between the two parties.  Had they gone to a hearing it would have only been the third time during Billy Bean's tenure as general manager of the A's and the first time in nine years. The Athletics have only gone into an arbitration hearing twice since 1997; first in 2000 with pitcher Ariel Prieto and second in with Juan Cruz in 2005. Prieto is currently on the coaching staff with the Athletics proving that unpleasantness doesn't always go hand in hand with an arbitration hearing, but often times it does.

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Indians, Michael Brantley Agree to Four Year Contract Extension

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According to Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer,  Michael Brantley gave up his arbitration eligible status Monday to commit himself to the Cleveland Indians for the next four years. It must be pretty good being a member of the Cleveland Indians these days, getting a long-term and lucrative deal like this. The two had been in arbitration talks and this deal brings those to an end before the arbitration hearing that was scheduled for February 17th.

The contract is huge for Brantley. Prior to this contract Brantley had asked the Indians for $3.8 million while the club was offering him$2.7 million. Now, he stands to make up to $36 million. It is a guaranteed $6.25 million a year for the first four years and there is a club option for 2018 worth another $11 million if it is picked up.

Brantley has been in MLB for five years totaling three full years of service and this was his first time being eligible for arbitration.  He only made $526,900 in 2013.  At just 24 years old this gives Brantley stability for a good portion of his career.

The Indians seemed to have made the right decision in locking down Brantley, not unlike the Atlanta Braves locking down young stars like Freddie Freeman and Jason Heywood.

Freddie Freeman, Getty Images

Brantley is a healthy young kid who has only once, in five years, been on the disabled list. He has a career batting average of .277 with 26 career home runs and 212 career RBI. He stole 17 bases last season and his speed also helped him on defense as he split time between left and center field. His career fielding percentage is .994. In his five years with Cleveland he has only recorded seven errors and 21 outfield assists. He played in 151 out of 162 games in 2013 hitting .284 with 10 home runs, 73 RBI and .728 OPS.

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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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Salary Arbitration and Hearings in MLB Explained

Kinda ... to the best of my understanding at least. I knew a bit prior to writing this piece for Sports Unbiased, did some research, tried to simplify it a little and well, here's what I came up with ....  you may find it a little bit boring but it's one of those things that people who are into baseball should probably know about more so than just like "oh that guy's a free agent" or "so and so is up for arbitration" ya know? Here's my understanding of the process .....

With Major League Baseball’s arbitration hearings beginning today and running through February 21st, I thought it might be nice for those new to baseball, casual fans and even fanatics like myself to take a little refresher course on what salary arbitration and arbitration hearings are. I mean, we hear them talked about every year but what is really going on?

Charles Rex Arbogast

All this is largely based on free agency so I need to preface this article by saying that free-agency in MLB is different from free-agency in any other sport, in that a player cannot become a free agent without six full years of big league service.

Let’s go over the basics of salary arbitration in MLB. Really, the most complicated part of the process is deciphering who is eligible in the first place, after that things become a lot less complicated.

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