The Braves have won their arbitration hearing against right-handed reliever Shane Greene, the Associated Press reports. He’ll now earn the $6.25MM salary figure submitted by the Braves rather than the $6.75MM salary for which he filed.
Acquired in a deadline deal that sent prospects Joey Wentz and Travis Demeritte to the Tigers, Greene was unable to replicate the dominance he’d shown in Detroit in his new setting. The 1.18 ERA he posted in 38 innings as a Tiger last year never appeared close to sustainable, as it was largely predicated on a .178 average on balls in play and a sky-high 85.2 percent strand rate, but the extent to which Greene regressed in Atlanta was nevertheless a bit surprising.
That’s not to say that Greene wasn’t a useful bullpen piece, but he punched out 28.5 percent of the hitters he faced with Detroit, only to see that number plummet to 20.8 percent with the Braves. Greene still notched a respectable 4.01 ERA with 7.7 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9 in 24 2/3 innings with the Braves, adding in another run allowed in 2 2/3 postseason frames in the NLDS.
This will be the final trip through the arbitration process for Greene, who is set to become a free agent at season’s end. The $500K gap over which the two sides argued seems trivial to most fans but is viewed in a vastly different light by teams and agencies. Hearings such as this one serve as a reminder that the actual immediate cost savings are typically trivial; rather, it’s in teams’ best interest to try to fight for every last dollar rather than make concessions, as future arbitration cases for similar players are based upon the cases of today. Conversely, if an agency is able to even push a client’s salary forward by a couple hundred thousand dollars, that becomes a data point for future comparables. MLBTR spoke to several league execs about the intricacies of arbitration a few years back, and the points discussed still ring true in 2020.
With all of the negative things said about an arbitration hearing, it seems silly to do it over 500k. **shrugs**
You can disparage me all you want if it means I’m going to get another $500K out it.
Not too much of a big deal the Braves are well under the luxury tax thresh hold so I don’t know why the really cared about 500,000
Because of business reasons.
1/2 a million “business reason”
Of course it is a stinken braves fan holding out for their team.
You’re dumb as they come. Philly fan confirmed.
Unlike your team, the Braves dont spend stupid money
If every team simply shrugged its shoulders and said “Eh, it’s only a few hundred grand,” in cases like this, the snowball effect would send future arbitration salaries soaring on a league-wide basis. Teams and agencies draw a hard line because of the future ramifications, even if the individual instances often appear trivial.
Not saying one side is right or wrong — that’s just how arbitration works. It’s an archaic system that could probably use a complete overhaul. But, the level of bargaining and number of concessions both sides would need to make in order to facilitate a new system is so great that I can’t envision it happening anytime soon.
I hear that argument, but I’d think it’d be more worth it in cases where the team and player are off a couple million. It seems that, with only a $500K difference, they could have met somewhere in the middle.
ATL is a file-and-trial team and will not play around when it comes to anything. Not sure if that comes from the corporate parents, but I believe they have always been that, even before Liberty took ownership, while Ted was top.
Stick to the plan, harder to hurt feelings that way and things are black and white. Imagine $500k in cash in front of your face right now, it’s not a little amount of money in all reality and can supplement many other business expenses very nicely.. “It’s just business.”
Thanks for weighing in Steve. You did a fine job explaining it in your article, but I guess sometimes people need it explained twice!
They’re closer to the cap than you think. Payroll at a projected 185MM
They’re closer to the cap than you think. Payroll at a projected 185MM
There is no salary cap in baseball
Ya I know that. I was obviously referring to the luxury tax.
$500k is roughly min salary in the league. It’s money they can use for the right pieces if needed. Especially if they end up eating a bad contract or a contract ends up going south fast
Hope this was a mere “let someone else decide the salary” than a true courtroom like battle. For whatever it’s worth, nice little savings I suppose for the Braves
Still surprised that Shane Greene’s number begins with a “6.” A “3” sounds like a better neighborhood.
I miss greene bean in DET, but Joey Wentz looks pretty solid! Hopefully there will be a reunion in ‘21
Det won the trade hands down. Congrats.
I think it’s to early to tell. The Braves and Greene will be just fine.
Cut back on the steaks a bit and you will get by.
Awesome. Now I’m hungry.
Steak? Isn’t it rabbit season?
Duck season!
rabbit season!
I ducked and you missed.
My dream is to be in attendance for an arbitration hearings. Pie charts, flow charts, pivot tables, snarky criticisms and stinky lawyer armpits.
The only trade last season that still pisses me off. Greene has never been good from a peripheral standpoint. Martin is better than he is, yet they gave up a better pitcher in Wentz (As opposed to Allard) to get him. Greene has good stuff, but he has yet to put anything together. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s our worst reliever in 2020.
Misspoke, turns out in 2016 he had a pretty good fip/xfip. Still, he’s consistently in the high 3’s-4s. Not exactly a get for a Joey Wentz.
You didn’t misspoke, you spoke out of your a$$ without doing any research first.
I knew off the top of my head he was trash. His era was approaching 6 that season. Relax teeny bopper.
I think i’ll side with Alex Anthopoulos, instead of some online idiot knowing stuff off the top of his head.
You may be right, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he was their best either
Don’t dismiss the likelihood that ATL decided Greene needed to make adjustments and those adjustments didn’t pan out as expected. A change that immediate and extreme is typically the result of a change in mechanics or mix. He also suddenly improved back to where it he likely would have regressed.
Nevermind, he’s still the 6.25 million dollar man.