Detroit – It looks like the Tigers and J.D. Martinez are headed to the arbitration table, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing for either side.
Major League Baseball begins arbitration hearings Monday. Neither side has disclosed Martinez’s actual hearing date. It could be any time before Feb. 21 and the Tigers can continue to negotiate a long-term extension up until the hearing.
“I still have hope that we can get something done,” general manager Al Avila said Wednesday. But there wasn’t a ton of conviction in his voice.
The Tigers haven’t had a player get to the arbitration table since 2003, but Avila was quick to point out, you don’t get any prizes for that.