Last week was the deadline for teams to offer arbitration to their free agents. Today is the deadline for those so offered to accept or decline. Some already have done so (guys like Trevor Hoffman) and others have already signed free agent deals, mooting the issue (Victor Martinez). That leaves 12 type-A free agents and 11 type-B free agents who need to make up their minds before midnight.
The type As: Grant Balfour, Adrian Beltre, Carl Crawford, Scott Downs, Adam Dunn, Frank Francisco, Jason Frasor, Paul Konerko, Cliff Lee, Carl Pavano, Rafael Soriano and Jayson Werth.
The type-Bs: Randy Choate, Jesse Crain, Pedro Feliciano, Brad Hawpe, Aaron Heilman, Orlando Hudson, Adam LaRoche, Felipe Lopez, Miguel Olivo, J.J. Putz and Chad Qualls.
There is always a surprise or two -- Rafael Soriano unexpectedly accepted the Braves’ offer of arbitration last year -- but I can’t really see any of the type-As other than Frank Francisco, who has already indicated that he’ll accept, taking arbitration. Maybe some type-Bs do, but their doing so won’t fundamentally alter the market or anything.
If anything strange does happen, however -- like, say, Adam Dunn accepting -- it will likely lead to fun trade speculation over the coming days, so let’s hope for the unexpected.