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Seven Tiger players formally filed for arbitration, MLB announced on Tuesday. Alex Avila, Brennan Boesch, Austin Jackson, and Doug Fister are eligible for arbitration for the first time. Max Scherzer, Rick Porcello, and Phil Coke are filing for the second time in their careers. Don Kelly would have been eligible for the second time, and Ryan Raburn for the third time had they not been released after the season.
The move is really just a formality, and an indication that the players and the club were unable to come to terms on a contract for the 2013 season. The players and clubs will exchange salary figures on Friday unless an agreement is reached before that time.
No Tiger player has actually gone to a formal arbitration hearing during Dave Dombrowski's tenure with the Detroit ball club, as the Tiger President has managed to reach a contract settlement prior to the necessity of a hearing. In all, 133 major league players filed for arbitration this season. The Boston Red Sox have the greatest number of players filing, with nine. Tigers division rivals Chicago (2), Minnesota (2) and Kansas City (1) have a relatively light arbitration calendar, while the Cleveland Indians also have seven players to reconcile with.
The seven Tiger players can all expect to receive substantial increases in salary for the 2013 season. The players received a total of $ 13.45 million for the 2012 season, and are projected by MLBTR to earn over $ 25 million in 2013, an increase of nearly $ 12 million in total.
In addition to Scherzer, Porcello and Coke, the Tigers had Kelly and Delmon Young going through the arbitration cycle this time last winter.
Arbitration cases analyzed on BYB:
Austin Jackson's arbitration case will be covered tomorrow, and Alex Avila later this week.