Oakland Athletics Resolve All Arbitration Cases

The Oakland Athletics have been very busy this January. However, for once, they were not making trades or acquisitions. This time, they were reaching settlements with all of their arbitration eligible players. They had to go through the arbitration process with a handful of their players and the A’s closed their final case on Friday.

Some of the more important arbitration settlements this offseason involved Josh Reddick and Danny Valencia. As the front office told the media at the conclusion of the 2015 season, the Athletics would like to sign Reddick to a multi-year deal. However, after agreeing to a one-year, $6.575 million contract during arbitration, it is clear the A’s are going wait a little longer before presenting something more long term. 

The Oakland Athletics probably want to see how Reddick performs during the first half of the 2016 before offering him a multi-year contract. If he performs poorly, then the A’s can offer him less money or even decide to not sign him to a long term deal. If he performs well, Oakland will have to pay up, trade him to a postseason bound team during the trade deadline, or lose him to free agency at the end of the season.

Now for Valencia. By agreeing to a one-year $3.15 million deal, it is now a little more set in stone that he will be the A’s starting third baseman for this upcoming season. It is still possible he could be traded, but with no other starting third base on the roster, it is more than likely fans will see Valencia in that position in 2016.

Lastly, a surprising arbitration case that Oakland settled this offseason with Jarrod Parker. Parker, who has not pitched in the Majors since 2013, agreed to a one-year, $850,000 deal with the Athletics. This is obviously a low risk, potentially high reward contract. If Parker is able to overcome his elbow injuries and be an effective starting pitcher for at least half of the 2016 season, then the A’s have a cheap, yet quality starter in the rotation. But, if he flops, the A’s ultimately did not waste too much money on his contract.

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Because the Oakland Athletics have now settled all of their arbitration cases, they will not need to go to arbitration hearings at the beginning of February. Additionally, by getting these contracts out of the way, the A’s have more free time to do some wheeling and dealing. After telling MLB Network Radio that there are still moves to be made this offseason, Billy Beane will surely focus on this right up until Spring Training begins.