Athletics avoid arbitration with Brett Lawrie, Sam Fuld, Ryan Cook, others. Tyler Clippard and 3 others file salary requests

The Oakland Athletics avoided arbitration with Ryan Cook, Sam Fuld, Craig Gentry, Brett Lawrie, and Josh Reddick, signing one-year deals with all of them, the club announced on Twitter. Tyler Clippard, Eric Sogard, Fernando Abad, and Jarrod Parker all filed salary figures against the A's for arbitrators to consider in hearings in February.

Craig Gentry will be earning $1.6 million next year, according to Jon Morosi of FOX Sports on Thursday. Reddick will earn $4.1 million according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports earlier Friday.

Rundown

Here's the current status of the 12 arbitration-eligible players so far:

• Settled
  • Josh Reddick: $4.1 million
  • Ike Davis: $3.8 million
  • Jesse Chavez: $2.15 million
  • Brett Lawrie $1.925 million
  • Sam Fuld: $1.75 million
  • Craig Gentry: $1.6 million
  • Ryan Cook: $1.4 million
  • Fernando Rodriguez: $635,000
• Filed salary figures
  • Tyler Clippard
    • Player: $8.85 million
    • Club: $7.775 million
    • Mid-point: $8.3125 million
  • Jarrod Parker
    • Player: $1.7 million
    • Club: $850,000
    • Mid-point: $1.275 million
  • Eric Sogard
    • Player: $1.425 million
    • Club: $900,000
    • Mid-point: $1.1625 million
  • Fernando Abad
    • Player: $1.225 million
    • Club: $850,000
    • Mid-point: $1.0375 million

Brett Lawrie settles at $1.925 million

Brett Lawrie will earn a base salary of $1.925 million, according to Mike Perchick of WAPT News 16 Jackson, Mississippi. This is his first arbitration year, having accrued three years, 55 days service time. Lawrie's base salary is $125,000 above the $1.8 million the Matt Swartz model projected.

Lawrie is a career .265/.323/.426 hitter from 2011-14 with 43 home runs and 29 stolen bases in 1,431 plate appearances. He is expected to take on the everyday role at third base in 2015.

The third baseman has also received several incentives to stay healthy and be very good at his job in his one-year deal:

Brett Lawrie incentives: 50K for ASG, 50K for GG, 100K for MVP, 50K for LCS MVP, 100K for WS MVP, 100K for Silver Slugger #Athletics

— Mike Perchick (@TheREALPerchick) January 16, 2015

Sam Fuld signs for $1.75 million

Sam Fuld has settled for $1.75 million plus incentives, Mike Perchick also reports. This is Fuld's third trip through arbitration, and is $150,000 above the Swartz estimate and $250,000 above my estimate.

Fuld's incentives are not literally impossible, but...

Incentives for #Athletics OF Sam Fuld: $50K for GG, $50K ASG, $100K for Silver Slugger, $100K for WS MVP, $50K for LCS MVP, $100K for MVP

— Mike Perchick (@TheREALPerchick) January 17, 2015

You'll notice, of course, that they match Brett Lawrie's incentives (and Josh Reddick's), so I imagine there's a boilerplate position player incentive package included in every arbitration settlement, unless the player makes it a dickered term.

Fuld has four years, 140 days service time, and the salary represents a $950,000 raise over the $800,000 he earned in 2014. I wrote in October:

I keep getting drawn to Jason Heyward and his part-time performance and then I look at Sean Rodriguez. A midpoint between those two raises would be around $700,000, for a cool $1,500,000 for Sam Fuld.

Ryan Cook signs for $1.4 million

The A's will pay Ryan Cook $1.4 million and incentives, Jane Lee of mlb.com tweets. This was Cook's first arbitration. Both the Matt Swartz model and myself estimated that Cook would earn $1.3 million in 2015.

The "incentives" are pretty hilarious, even if they are just the pitcher's version of the boilerplate incentives:

Incentives for #Athletics pitcher Ryan Cook: 50K for Gold Glove, 100K for WS MVP, $50K for LCS MVP, 100K for MVP, 75K for 2nd, 50K for 3rd

— Mike Perchick (@TheREALPerchick) January 17, 2015

Incentives for #Athletics pitcher Ryan Cook ctd: $100K for Cy Young, $75K for 2nd, $50K for 3rd

— Mike Perchick (@TheREALPerchick) January 17, 2015

Cook has three years, 36 days service time. Cook's sub-three ERA, his time as closer in 2012 with its All-Star appearance all contributed to his raise. I wrote in October:

Jordan Walden got a salary bump for the 32 saves he attained in his 2011 campaign with the Los Angeles Angels. Ryan Cook has a better ERA than most, but only 17 career saves. I'm thinking something in the $1.3 million range, or an $800,000 raise.

Players not settling

The A's have four players that apparently did not reach an agreement prior to today's 10 AM Pacific Time deadline to exchange salary figures: Tyler Clippard, Eric Sogard, Fernando Abad, and Jarrod Parker.

While some teams refuse to continue settlement negotiations after exchanging salary demands, the A's under Billy Beane's stewardship usually continue to negotiate, with only two players going to a hearing during Beane's tenure as general manager.

Tyler Clippard will be less expensive than we thought

Newly-acquired reliever Tyler Clippard filed at $8.875 million against the A's $7.775 million, for a midpoint of $8.3125 million. Both figures are below the $9.3 million projected by Matt Swartz for MLB Trade Rumors. He earned $5.875 million in 2014.

This is Tyler Clippard's fourth and final time through the arbitration process, having first gone through it as a Super-2 player in 2012. Clippard has five years, 148 days service time.

Jarrod Parker aggressive in seeking raise

Parker filed for $1.7 million against the club's $850,000, says Jon Heyman, for a mid-point of $1.275 million. While Parker missed all of last season to his second Tommy John surgery, this is his first arbitration, so the figure represents the pitching he did complete in his first two seasons in the major leagues. Parker has a career 3.68 ERA and 3.93 FIP in 384 innings, with 275 strikeouts, 127 walks, and 36 home runs allowed.

MLB Trade Rumors projects Parker to earn $900,000, while I predicted $1.5 million:

As far as Wendy Thurm of FanGraphs can determine, no pitcher undergoing Tommy John Surgery has missed the entire season preceding their first arbitration year ("Financial Cost of Tommy John Surgery to Young Pitchers"). All have either been pre-arb (like A.J. Griffin) or signed to longer-term deals (like Stephen Strasburg).

Eric Sogard

Sogard filed for $1.425 million against the club's $900,000, writes Kiley McDaniel of Fangraphs. This is also Sogard's first arbitration, hitting the milestone with three years, 64 days service time.

Matt Swartz predicted a $1 million payday for Sogard, and I predicted $1.5 million. I had predicted that Sogard would be seen as better than Daniel Descalso but worse than Darwin Barney, and picked a figure in the middle of those two players.

Fernando Abad

Abad filed for $1.225 million against Oakland's $850,000, McDaniel also reports. Abad reaches arbitration for the first time with three years, 73 days service time.

The MLB Trade Rumors model predicted a modest $900,000 payout for Abad, while I projected $1.4 million:

Abad's ERA compares favorably with Mike Dunn and Tim Collins. ... Abad has fewer strikeouts, but definitely fewer walks, and would be sure to highlight how few inherited runners he has allowed in 2014. I'm going to award Abad $1,400,000.

Arbitration Tracker

If all four remaining cases settled at their midpoint, that would represent about a $750,000 discount from what Matt Swartz predicted at MLB Trade Rumors.

2015 Oakland Athletics arbitration ($Millions)
Player	Estimates		Arbitration salaries filed			2015 Actual	2014 Salary	Service Time
	Swartz Model	My Estimate	Player Demand	Club Demand	Mid- point
Tyler Clippard	$9.300	$9.300	$8.850	$7.775	$8.3125		$5.875	5.148
Ike Davis	$4.400	$4.400	XXX	XXX	XXX	$3.800	$3.500	4.155
Josh Reddick	$3.700	$3.700	XXX	XXX	XXX	$4.100	$2.700	4.050
Jesse Chavez	$2.500	$2.400	XXX	XXX	XXX	$2.150	$0.775	4.108
Brett Lawrie	$1.800	$1.800	XXX	XXX	XXX	$1.925	$0.516	3.055
Sam Fuld	$1.600	$1.500	XXX	XXX	XXX	$1.750	$0.800	4.140
Craig Gentry	$1.500	$1.800	XXX	XXX	XXX	$1.600	$1.145	4.084
Ryan Cook	$1.300	$1.300	XXX	XXX	XXX	$1.400	$0.505	3.036
Eric Sogard	$1.000	$1.500	$1.425	$0.900	$1.1625		$0.510	3.064
Fernando Abad	$0.900	$1.400	$1.225	$0.850	$1.0375		$0.526	3.073
Jarrod Parker	$0.900	$1.500	$1.700	$0.850	$1.2750		$0.500	3.000
Fernando Rodriguez	$0.900	$0.700	XXX	XXX	XXX	$0.635	$0.600	3.053
Total Estimate	$29.800	$31.300
Total incl. actual	$29.460	$31.060	$30.560	$27.735	$29.1475	$17.360	$17.952
Remaining Arb	$12.100	$13.700	$13.200	$10.375	$11.7875
*I adopted Swartz's estimate ^Player was a Super-2 player "XXX" Settled before figures exchanged