FanPost

Arbitration and FA Question

I just don't get it and I hope someone else out there may be able to explain it to me?

 

What is the deal with arbitration and FA?  More importantly - WHY?  I don't understand why a team HAS to even offer arbitration to get the compensation picks. 

Gagne is a free agent (thank the almighty baseball gods) - so if Milwaukee wanted the compensatory picks they had to offer arbitration?  I wouldn't mind bringing him back for $3-4M but that would break the arbitration rules.  He will sign somewhere else with another team that sees value in him - so why shouldn't Milwaukee get the draft picks regardless of whether arbitration was offered or not? 

It just seems pointless and quite frankly stupid to offer arbitration to free agents