Decisions held back for 1st-time eligible starting pitchers
NEW YORK (AP) Salary arbitration decisions for starting pitchers who are eligible for the first time will be held back until all the cases involving those players are finished.
Pitcher Chase Anderson argued his case with the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday but must wait for agreements or hearings involving Houston's Collin McHugh, Tampa Bay's Jake Odorizzi, Toronto's Marcus Stroman, St. Louis' Michael Wacha and Arizona's Taijuan Walker. They are among 11 players whose cases remain to be heard, with hearings scheduled through Feb. 17.
The agreement by Major League Baseball and the players' association to request the delay in decisions was told to The Associated Press by several people familiar with the arbitration hearings who spoke on condition of anonymity because no announcement was made.
Anderson asked arbitrators Howard Edelman, Elizabeth Neumeier and Mark Burstein to award his $2.85 million request over the team's $2.45 million offer, and delaying his decision prevents it from being used as evidence in the remaining cases.
McHugh asked for $3.85 million and was offered $3.35 million; Odorrizi $4.1 million to $3,825,000; Stroman $3.4 million to $3.1 million; Wacha $3.2 million to $2,775,000; and Walker $2.6 million to $2.25 million.
Teams lead players 3-2 in decisions thus far. Oakland outfielder Khris Davis ($5 million) and Mets infielder Wilmer Flores ($2.2 million) won, and Arizona pitcher Shelby Miller ($4.7 million), Boston pitcher Fernando Abad ($2 million) and Baltimore catcher Caleb Joseph ($700,000) lost.
