The offseason won’t get going for another month or so, but Monday morning brought one of the first tools to help us begin our winter scheming — the MLB Trade Rumors salary arbitration estimates. These are educated, generally accurate guesses as to what paydays might be in store for veterans who haven’t played in the majors long enough to reach free agency but also don’t yet have an official 2018 contract.
Not all cases end in a one-year deal around the approximated amount. Some players may instead agree to long-term pacts to buy out their arbitration years, or be traded to avoid the situation altogether, or non-tendered and released because they aren’t worth the new, inflated price.