Interesting news coming out of the US today suggests that Grant Balfour - who has pitched the last few seasons at Tampa Bay - has declined arbitration of his contract. In short, he is looking to get a better deal.
The whole Major League Baseball players collective bargaining agreement is a complicated affair (you can learn more here at Cot's Baseball Contracts). Basically - if you have earned enough service in the big leagues, you are entitled to have your contract 'arbitrated' if you are not able to negotiate a new deal at the end of your term. At aribitration, each side puts forward figures for the contract value. They negotiate the contract in front of a 3-man panel who then awards the player a one-year, non-guaranteed contract at one salary or the other.
Balfour's contract is expiring, so the Rays recently offered him arbitration. However, he has declined the offer.
What does this mean for Balfour?
The Rays have quite a number of well-credentialed relievers on the books. They face quite a challenge trying to hold on to them all. Balfour has had a couple of good years, and is [rightfully] looking to cash in on his success. Balfour has expressed some disappointment that Tampa Bay have not been forthcoming with an offer already. According to the St Petersburg Times, he said he would be happy to continue at the Rays, but would have hoped to have heard some sort of offer by now.
His solid numbers over the past few seasons rank him highly among the current market of relievers. This puts him in a strong bargaining position. For these reasons, it seems he could expect to do better than he would through arbitration.
One risk that he is taking is the fact that he is a 'Type A' Free Agent. This means that any team who signs him will have to give up a draft pick. This might be something that would stop a smaller market team signing him. However there are plenty of big-market teams on the lookout for relievers like Balf, including the Yankees, and you would think that loss of a draft pick might not be such a big deal for them.
What happens now?
Balfour will probably begin shopping around to see what sort of deal he can get. This may be at the Rays, or it may be elsewhere. The St Petersburg Times reports he said "I'll take my chances on what I've done the past few years, I believe there's a multi-year deal out there for me.''
It will be interesting to see how it goes, and hopefully Grant can secure himself a long term deal. Stay tuned!
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