Jason Motte, a Valley Central grad, is interviewed by St. Louis TV in the Cardinals' World Series parade on Oct. 30, 2011. (Image via Wikipedia Commons)
Two of our former Section 9 players in the majors, Mike Aviles (Middletown) of the Indians and Jason Motte (Valley Central) of the Cardinals, are both up for arbitration this winter.
According to Tweets from CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman, Motte, the St. Louis closer, has asked for $5.5 million for 2013. The Cardinals countered with a $4.5 million offer.
Aviles, traded from Boston to Toronto and then from Toronto to Cleveland in the offseason, asked for $3.4 million. The Indians countered with a $2.4 million offer.
Basically, what this means is that a neutral party, the arbiter will look at a player’s statistics and value and determine which offer – the player or the team’s – is closest to that of peers with similar numbers.
If I had to guess, Motte, a full-time closer who saved 42 games last year, will get the $5.5 million for which he’s asking. There are only so many closers and even fewer that are reliably good at their jobs.
Aviles, on the other hand, lost his starting job in Boston at the end of the 2012 season and profiles more as a utility player in Cleveland. I would guess he gets the Indians’ $2.4 million offer.
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Our other local guy in the bigs, Joe Nathan (Pine Bush), signed a two-year $14 million deal with the Rangers prior to the 2012 season. He has a $9 million club option for 2014, which means the Rangers can have him back next year for that price or buy out his contract for $500,000 at the end of 2013 instead.
