Does Hendry not understand how this process works? is there something i'm missing here? i really feel like i just must not understand the process very well, cause offering him arbitration kind of seems like a no-brainer When a player accepts an offer of arbitration, they are bound to a one year contract. Each side submits a figure, and if a compromise on salary cannot be reached, an arbitrator decides which person made the more compelling argument and awards the figure they requested. (Most everybody already knows this, I'm just trying to be clear). However, the absolute lowest salary that a team can offer is 80% of the player's previous year salary. (This changed from 90% in the last CBA). Therefore, the absolute lowest amount of salary Ted Lilly could have ended up with was 80% of his 12 million salary this year, or 9.6 million dollars. There is certainly a degree of risk in offering a player a contract when you know you'll have to pay them between 9.6 million and whatever number it is they decide to submit. That is, of course, assuming they accept the offer. Most offers of arbitration are made when it is assumed the player will be offered a lucrative multiyear deal elsewhere... hence making the prospect of a one year contract less appealing to them. I would have assumed Lilly would get a 2-4 year contract offer. So I'm not quite sure why we wouldn't offer. But there could be an underlying medical condition that we were afraid would affect his FA appeal.