One year ago, a New York Times headline proclaimed a near worst-case scenario in the Bronx, and a cautionary tale in Boston: “Yankees’ Dellin Betances Loses in Arbitration, and a War of Words Begins.”
The Yankees’ homegrown reliever — already a three-time All-Star, soft-spoken by nature, popular with teammates and fans — had come out of his arbitration trial offended and frustrated. He’d lost the case, been denied his desired salary, and become the poster child for avoiding arbitration in the first place.
“They take me in a room,” Betances said. “And they trash me for about an hour and a half.