Reliever Dellin Betances has lost his arbitration hearing to the Yankees, Fan Rag’s Jon Heyman writes (Twitter links). Betances will receive $3MM next season rather than the $5MM he had been seeking.
This offseason’s spin through the arbitration process was Betances’ first. The righty is coming off a terrific season in which he posted a 3.08 ERA with 3.5 BB/9 and a remarkable 15.5 K/9 over 73 innings, mowing down hitters with a high-90s fastball and a terrific breaking ball. He’s accumulated 21 saves over the last two seasons and would appear to be a candidate for future success as a closer, although he didn’t fare well in that role late last season. The Yankees, of course, re-acquired Aroldis Chapman this winter, meaning they won’t need Betances in the ninth inning going forward unless there’s an injury. As Heyman tweets, the $5MM salary Betances had hoped for would have set a precedent, since numbers that high typically aren’t given to relievers who aren’t closers.
Betances and the Yankees had discussed a multi-year deal this winter, but GM Brian Cashman told Dan Martin of the New York Post that there was a gulf between the two sides about what Betances should receive. The Yankees instead went with a “file-and-trial” approach with Betances, declining to negotiate with him once the two sides exchanged arbitration figures.
He was seeking a lot for a setup man.
He’d probably be a closer on 25 other teams. Setup men are just as important as relievers. See Miller, Andrew.
5 blow saves last season says he can’t.
40 Holds/Saves last season says he can. A blown hold = a blown save by the way, so if he blows an 8th inning lead, he’s technically 0-1 in Save Opportunities.
Meant to say setup men are just as important as Closers before.
A setup man with about 10 saves in each of the past two seasons, Randy Johnson-like strikeout numbers, and great WHIP and ERA. His 3.08 ERA last year was a little unlucky based on the peripherals, but it sounds like he’s allowing too many stolen bases also…therefore it’s still somewhat on him. Either way, when you’re in the same conversation as Andrew Miller you’re much more than a setup man, and he knows it. Among qualified relievers, he had the fifth highest BABIP last year…with the 4th lowest FIP and second lowest xFIP. Higher WAR than Chapman and 3rd best overall. Says it all right there
That’s a load of bull. Guy is a beast.
3+ ERA relievers aren’t worth 5M their first go through arbitration.
Because a 3+ ERA pitching in the most difficult park to pitch in (for a RHP) is terrible, right? His ERA+ by the way was a very high 141 and he has a 189 ERA+ for his career. You’re acting as if he’s a scrub.
MB923 I don’t think Eck is suggesting Betances isn’t good. He merely stated a fact about the arbitration process. Relievers don’t get 5M on their first go around. It’s just the reality, worthy or not.
I’m not a metrics person but to the eye test, he can pitch and should be stay healthy will likely only get better. That said, his agent probably expected him to lose. Truth be told, $3m for the first time through the process, when you’re not the closer? He went into the hearing already the victor. his agent was just trying to establish a new bar.
I figured he would lose it because he doesn’t have a lot of Saves. As sad as it is, I’ve read arbitrators look at Save totals for relievers. That’s why Watson probably lost his too.
Why did Brach win?
Who knows. Maybe because the arbitrator likes the other overrated stat in Wins. Brach tied for the lead in Wins last year for relievers with 10.
Your guess on why he won is as good as mine. I just remember an article saying arbitrators look at Saves. Whether they look at W-L I’m not sure, but sadly it wouldn’t surprise me.
Maybe next time through arbitration, you can defend Betances since you’re so high on him.
Well he should’ve won.
The system is based off of traditional stats and previous cases. All of Betances suggest he shouldn’t be setting a new record for relievers
I never said he should have won.
2nd time through arb., not first. Makes a difference
Apparently one of the Yankees’ arguing points was that Betances allowed 21 steals on 21 baserunners. Not sure if that did, or even should, play a factor into arbitration, but an interesting factor to possibly consider.
I thought he was closer to FA then I realized this is only his first taste of arbitration.
It does seem like he’s been around a long time and would be closer to FA, but he didn’t stick in the majors until he was 26 when they finally made him a relief pitcher. He won’t hit FA til he’s 31.
Great point, trace. Many of these decision points in arbitration are relative to each other. Somebody said Betances is a beast; I don’t disagree, and as a Yankees fan I hope it continues. There was no way they were awarding him $5mil his first time through. Assuming he remains highly effective and is Chapman’s setup man I would expect north of $4mil next yr. Hopefully they can agree and skip the arb hearing. His agents should stop giving him bad advice. Brach is a good example of a reasonable ask.
Joba, Betances & now Severino the Yankees really have a hard time developing these top flight arms
Severino is still young. Betances is a 3x all star reliever so even though he was a failed starter, I’m more than happy with how he’s turned out. Joba, yes, they screwed him up big time.
If the arbitrators only look at ERA W SV, uh, then the system is terribly skewed.
Yeah, thats how it works
I think everyone understands how it works. Most people just think it’s a flawed system, which it is. The arbitration process needs to get with the times. Betances is clearly one of the top relievers in the game and he should have been awarded the $5 million to set a new precedent showing that saves don’t matter and you don’t need to pitch the 9th inning to be immensely valuable to your team.
5M for a reliever the first time is too much. Thats a 4.5M raise off of an ERA-inflated season, and hes had a high walk rate two years in a row
Winning an arb case doesn’t have anything to do with how good he is. It’s only who’s closer in actual value to the numbers submitted by both sides. If his agent had submitted a $4.5 million value he almost certainly would’ve won.
I guess not everyone understands how arbitration hearings work…
You claim of what should have happened isn’t how arbitration works. They’re not gonna use an arb hearing as a platform to “set a new precedent showing that saves don’t matter”
Reading comprehension is a skill some people lack. I said it was a flawed system, as in one that should be changed.
Saves are the most absurd statistic in the game, but, dang, teams like to use them against their own players. Betances is probably the best reliever in baseball not named Andrew Miller. And this lousy process probably guarantees that the Yankees don’t keep him when he hits FA. Players (and their agents) don’t forget being dragged through the mud in these arbitration hearings. But hey! The Yankees saved a couple million bucks!
Yeah, we’ve seen it where players hold arbitration hearings against their team so many times when deciding where to sign in free agency…oh wait.
Players aren’t that petty, it’s almost always about the $.
If you don’t understand why this happened, you prob don’t understand the arbitration process
The process worked perfectly and predictably, it’s just an antiquated process.
Spend less time worrying about your money and more time doing PFP. After the way 16 ended you are going to see plenty of bunts this year and you’ll need to field your position.
Arbitration comes down to finding recently comparable pitchers with equal service time. The players side says that they are like one player and then argues why their guy should get more based on X Y and Z. Meanwhile the team says he’s like that guy or even another player but should get less based on A B and C. It’s really all about who finds the best comp to their situation.
Real value is about facing 3-4-5 hitters in the 8th inning and letting the closer record a save against the 6-7-8 hitters in the ninth.
Second best reliever in baseball? Now that’s absurd .
Who would you pick? I think it goes Miller, Betances, Britton. Then you can make an argument for Chapman or Jansen, although they’re pretty interchangeable.
Jansen, Miller, Britton, Chapman, Betances.
The drop off after those five is significant. It’s an elite group however you order them but Betances has to be more elite for a longer time to crack those top four.
It’s not That absurd. Over the past 3 years he’s thrown 247+ innings and has the highest WAR at 8.5. That’s literally equivilanet to a full season of an ace pitcher with a very high WAR. . Among the other relievers mentioned by coachbrad and davidcoone above, Britton is the only other one to surpass 200 innings (209)
Personally I Wouldn’t put Betances in the top 2. But he’s certainly in Top 5, and you can have an argument for any of the top 5 being #1. Top 5 IMO in order are Andrew Miller, Chapman, Jansen, Britton, Betances (could argue a healthy Wade Davis too)
Betances probably made a tactical error in asking for $5M–a somewhat lesser amount and he might have won the arbitration. And he was very hittable his last month–10ER over just 9.1 IP. I don’t think this is an unfair result.
+1
Agree
he was quite weak after miller and chapman left last season
I hear during the hearing he didn’t get rave reviews for his defense.