Note: This is an updated and expanded version of a 2018 article.
Arbitration. A familiar baseball word. It comes from the Latin arbitratus meaning “a promising young pitcher.” I’ll be honest with you, I’m not good at languages. Today is an important day (although not the most important) in the arbitration process. This is a significant part of roster construction for any team, but the process itself, like many things in Major League Baseball, is shrouded in a degree of mystery.
To understand who qualifies for arbitration, you have to understand service time and contract tendering.