http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1969972 Tuesday, January 18, 2005 Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS -- AL Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana asked the Minnesota Twins for a raise to $6.8 million in salary arbitration on Tuesday and was offered $5 million. Santana went 20-6 with a league-leading 2.61 ERA and 265 strikeouts, helping the Twins win their third straight AL Central title. After the All-Star break, Santana went 13-0 with a 1.21 ERA in 15 starts. Why dont we sign Santana for $7mil per yr??? He's worth it!
He is not a free agent since he still has been offered arbitration. I dont fully understand all of the details of how arbitration work but can post a good article if you are interested.
He will probably get 6.8 million but the way arbitration works is this: the player submits a figure to the arbitration court, the team submits another figure. Based on past performance, the judges (i think they are judges) decide which amount the player gets paid. So the Twins are not lowballing him or anything, they are just hoping the judges choose 5 million instead of 6.8.
Santana doesn't become an unrestricted FA till after 2007 (like Oswalt). But, if either of them doesn't sign a long-term deal before then, its because they both intend to leave the team... and thus, will probably get traded the year before (like Hudson, and Mulder). Frankly, the arbitration system really allows a team to get the most bang for the buck for a player in his first 6 years... and within those years, he would have probably had his "best season ever." After that, you're paying him a lot more... for seemingly the same, if not less production... and thus you have the concept of "moneyball" (of course, the fans don't realize this... as they've fallen in love with the player, and would like to see him pitch/play the rest of his career there, etc... untill he's 35, still a franchise icon, but no longer able to throw, and then they're all clamoring why he's getting paid 17.5 million dollars in the first place... )
