Red Sox: Friday deadline to exchange arbitration salary figures

Today is the deadline for the Boston Red Sox to exchange arbitration salary figures with eligible players on their roster.

The Boston Red Sox have been painfully quiet this offseason but expect a flurry of action to begin soon. No, they aren’t on the verge of a huge free agent signing. That may take a while. What we will find out soon is how much arbitration-eligible players will earn in 2018.

Friday, January 12 marks the deadline for teams and players to exchange arbitration figures.

Here’s how this process works. The team and player both present a salary they feel is fair for the upcoming season. If there is a gap between the two sides then they negotiate until they reach an amicable agreement. If they fail to agree on a deal that satisfies both parties then the decision will be made by a panel of arbitrators.

Note that these players remain under team control, so falling short of an agreement doesn’t mean the player is free to negotiate with other teams.  Both sides present their case to the arbitrators, who will determine which of the two presented salaries the player will earn. At this point it’s no longer a negotiation – the arbitrators side with either the player or team.

Arbitration hearings will take place in St. Petersburg, FL between January 29 – February 17.

The Red Sox have already reached agreements for one-year deals with Steven Wright, Tyler Thornburg, and Carson Smith. That leaves ten more eligible players we are waiting for 2018 contracts. Here’s a list of those players along with the salaries projected for them by MLB Trade Rumors.

• Joe Kelly – $3.6MM
• Drew Pomeranz – $9.1MM
• Brock Holt – $2.0MM
• Xander Bogaerts – $7.6MM
• Jackie Bradley – $5.9MM
• Sandy Leon – $2.1MM
• Mookie Betts – $8.2MM
• Brandon Workman – $900K
• Christian Vazquez – $1.5MM
• Eduardo Rodriguez – $2.7MM

Boston currently has about $137.5 million committed to 11 players, plus about $18 million they owe Pablo Sandoval to stay away. If the above projections prove fairly accurate then the arbitration salaries will bring the payroll up to just shy of $200 million.

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The Red Sox rarely go to arbitration with their players so we can expect them to reach an agreement with these players soon. Last year they went to a hearing with Fernando Abad and won.

The free agent market has been crawling along at a snail’s pace this winter but finalizing deals with arbitration-eligible players could be an important step toward moving the process along. The steeper luxury tax penalties in the new collective bargaining agreement have led most teams to treat the threshold as a hard cap, while other teams are looking to retain payroll flexibility in anticipation for the stellar free agent class of 2019. Once teams lock in salaries for their arbitration players they will have a better idea of how much room they have in the payroll.

Next: Past free agency mistakes should make Red Sox cautious

Given that the Red Sox are willing to go over the tax this year we can assume that the results of this arbitration process won’t alter their plans for free agency. However, once this process is complete it will allow the front office to focus its attention on adding the missing piece to their lineup.