clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Drew Smyly wins Arbitration Case

Drew Smyly becomes the first player in Rays history to win an arbitration hearing.

Smyly is happy to win his arbitration case.
Smyly is happy to win his arbitration case.
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

According to Jon Heyman, Drew Smyly has won his arbitration and is set to earn $3.75M for the 2016 season. The Tampa Bay Rays were 6-0 vs players in arbitration hearings before today, never having lost a case.

Drew Smyly was 5-2 in 66.2 IP over 12 starts in 2015, compiling a 3.11 ERA, 3.91 FIP and 3.47 xFIP. Rehabilitation for a torn labrum kept him out from May to August, although it was not clear whether it was a recent injury.

With Smyly's salary now set, the team payroll for 2016 would be $64.78 million, pending any further trades or signings.

While a difference of $550k may seem silly in the grand scheme of things, MLBTR had a great reminder in their write up of Smyly's arbitration win:

The sum in question at the hearing may seem relatively trivial to onlookers, although as several GMs and assistant GMs explained to MLBTR last year at this time, teams feel a responsibility to manage the arbitration market, as it is shared by all 30 clubs. Because all arbitration cases are built on recent historical comparables, the slight increases would eventually compound and become more significant were every team simply to give in to what appear, on the surface, to be relatively trivial amounts.