I just took over a team, my first in HBD. The guys that are showing up in my arbitration report--have I automatically agreed to go to arbitration with them? Is there no out for me before arb begins, besides a trade, etc.

You can sign them to a long-term deal; you can trade them; you can release them; or you can have the arbitration hearing.

Yikes. What if I simply didn't want to renew the contract?

you can release them before arb with no penalty except for the loss of talent [sic]

But don't release players who are under contract.     Arb-el are not under contract.

I'm currently in between seasons, waiting for league to fill.  I have a few arb guys I don't want.  Im pretty sure I can't release them right now.  Once the league fills, and arb begins, is it too late to release them?  Do I have any options here?

You can release them at any point, up to the time when Simmy takes over and runs the arb cycle once your budget is set.

You can sign them to a long term deal during the same time frame.

You can take them to arbitration and offer them your number rather than the auto 70% of demands offer on arbitration day, the simmy will automatically process any remaining arb eligible players during one of the PM2 cycles (can't remember which one)