Welcome to The Opener, where every weekday morning during the regular season you’ll get a fresh, topical column to start your day from one of SI.com’s MLB writers.
During the lockout, when players fought for more money for young players, a veteran front office executive told me they already owned a tool to achieve that very goal.
“More five-year superstar players should go to hearing [in arbitration] at a high number,” the source said. “Even if you win a low percentage of those cases, the wins set new precedents. Five-year players in arbitration can compare themselves to players in any service class.