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