Phillies Arbitration: Brown and Revere

A total of 175 players officially filed for arbitration on Tuesday, January 13th. Among them were a pair of Phillies arbitration eligibles currently scheduled to start in the outfield: Domonic Brown and Ben Revere.

Major League Baseball players are almost completely at the whim of their team until they reach three full seasons. After reaching that mark, the player can take his salary request to an arbitration panel. Once a player reaches six (6) full seasons, they become a free agent at the completion of any contract they may have signed.

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Players become eligible for salary arbitration in a couple of ways. First, if they have three (3) full seasons of service time, but less than six (6) full seasons. They may also become eligible with less than three seasons, but fall within the top 22% of all players with more than two years of service time, known as the “Super Two” exception.

Once a player is officially eligible for arbitration, their team has until mid-December to offer the process to them. Otherwise, the team must release the player, making them a free agent. Once arbitration has been offered, the two sides have until mid-January to come to a contract agreement. If they cannot, the player must file for arbitration or accept the last team offer.

After a player has filed for arbitration, they and the team each have until a set date to submit a proposal for the player’s salary in the coming season. A hearing date is then set, at which both sides will present arguments to the arbitration panel as to why each believes their salary figure is more appropriate.

The player and the team can continue to negotiate throughout the arbitration process in hopes of reaching an actual contract agreement prior to the hearing. Any arbitration hearings are usually scheduled for early February, so as not to interfere with spring training.

Ben Revere joined Dom Brown in filing for arbitration. (Photo Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports)

Brown has now spent parts of five seasons with the Phillies, and this will be his first time through the arbitration process. His salary the last two seasons has been $500,000 in 2013 and $550,000 in 2014.

Revere has also spent parts of five seasons in the big leagues, three with the Twins and two with the Phils. He made $1.95 million last season after being offered arbitration, with he and the team settling on that figure prior to a hearing.

Both players have good and bad points, but the bad far outweighed the good on both counts last season. While Revere did hit .306, he had just 2 homers, 13 doubles and 28 rbi. Brown hit just .235 with 47 runs scored, 10 homers, and 63 rbi.

The team could settle with both or either, or there is also the possibility that one or the other could be traded prior to a hearing. It’s doubtful in any case that either will result in an actual hearing. There were only three hearings over the last two years in all of MLB.