I dont think I have run into this before, wanted to see if anyone else has.

My shortstop, Santiago Barrios was (stupidly) signed by the previous owner to a long term contract before he played a big league season. His contract ends after this year. He will be completing a 5 year deal having completed at this point 3 years of major league service. Since he only has 3 years of service he will be arbitration eligible after this year and not a free agent. What can I expect as his demands? Will he look for something around the contract he signed before or will it be closer to what a typical first year arbitration guy would ask for?

1) He's at 3 years, 152 days service time at the moment. Are you sure he'll have only 3 years or service and not 4 come arb hearing time?

2) If he has only 3, I believe he will have demands in line with someone with his OVR rating and 3 years ML experience, independent of the contract he was signed to prior.

your right, he will be just over 172 days at the end of the season...we have like 25 days in our season :(

I've never had that scenario, but I've had guys who were signed to 1- and 2-year deals that expired before their arb3 season, and they seem to ask for contracts in line with other arb3 players of similar ratings. Not scientific, but it's my observation.

I had that exact experience in High Fives. My closer was signed to a 3-year, $5.2 million contract which expired just as he was ARB eligible. In his first year of ARB I paid him $1.6 million, in his second year $4.8. So, if your guy is like mine, his demands will be more like that of a typical first year ARB guy. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the input guys sounds like I should be able to get him cheaper next year!