The Orioles will head into their “file and trial” era of arbitration with six hearings on their plate. They reached an agreement on a 2017 contract with the three most expensive players, Manny Machado, Zach Britton, and Chris Tillman, on Friday afternoon before their newly-imposed deadline on negotiation. Their remaining arbitration-eligible players, including Kevin Gausman, will be headed to hearings.
Whether the switch to no further negotiation once numbers are formally exchanged is a good or bad thing remains to be seen. With many of their eligible players headed to hearings, we’ll find out in a hurry whether it’s a good or a bad thing.