According to Anthony DiComo of MLB.com, a pair of Yankee relievers, righty Chad Gaudin and lefty Boone Logan, filed for salary arbitration yesterday.
Gaudin earned $2 million last season and put up decent numbers for the Yankees, 3.43 ERA with 34 strikeouts in 42 innings, but he bounced around quite a bit last year. He initially signed as a free agent with the Cubs before getting DFA’d and getting picked up by the Padres. The Yankees got him for nobody, actually a player to be named later which ended up being cash.
He’s inline to get a raise through arbitration which could end up being between $3 and $4 million. That could be a lot considering there is no defined roll for him between Javier Vazquez filling a gap in the Yankees rotation and Sergio Mitre available to fill the same bullpen roll as him at a cheaper price, $850,000. This all leaves him very vulnerable to be traded in the coming weeks.
Logan earned just $427,500 last season and has less major league service than Gaudin so don’t expect him to make nearly as much as Gaudin through arbitration.
Filling for arbitration is just a formality though. It is likely that the Yankees will reach an agreement with both of these players before arbitration comes around. They have to file to keep leverage while negotiating.
