Baldelli reportedly off the market

[JeffH]

December 7th is the deadline by which you have to offer arbitration to your former players who are now free agents (Burnitz, Nomar, Fox, Grieve). If you don't offer, you wave goodbye to them.

 

December 20th is the deadline by which you have to tender a contract offer to all of your other players - those who are eligible for arbitration (Zambrano, Patterson, Hairston, Macias) and everyone else. If you don't tender them a contract offer, they become free agents.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

December 7th is the deadline by which you have to offer arbitration to your former players who are now free agents (Burnitz, Nomar, Fox, Grieve). If you don't offer, you wave goodbye to them.

 

December 20th is the deadline by which you have to tender a contract offer to all of your other players - those who are eligible for arbitration (Zambrano, Patterson, Hairston, Macias) and everyone else. If you don't tender them a contract offer, they become free agents.

 

That's not completely true. You just lose the right to sign them to a contract until May 1, which usually means you waive good-bye to them. There have been cases where a player signs a minor league deal and then returns to the team on or after May 1. This happened with Jeff Russell and the Texas Rangers back in the mid-1990's.

[JeffH]

I knew that, but I didn't really feel the need to go into that level of detail.

 

Thanks.

[Lefty]

Well, obviously, I am confident that he can improve on those numbers. But if you wait until February to fill a hole this big you end up re-signng Burnitz (don't laugh). Or the price for Huff goes up. We could do Rich Hill for Huff today. I say do it.

 

Pardon me if I'm wrong, but if we wait until February, we won't be able to sign Burnitz either. Don't we lose the right to negotiate with him after December 20 (until May 1)?

 

I was mostly using Burnitz as an example of what happens when you wait too long.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

I knew that, but I didn't really feel the need to go into that level of detail.

 

Thanks.

 

I thought you might, but I felt like I would clarify just in case.