I traded for a SP last season who had been arbed twice by his former owner. He's up for arb/LT this spring. Is this considered his 3rd arb(in which case I wil offer him a LT contract), or does his arb clock reset since he was traded and has never gone thru arb with me?

This is his third arb year.

http://www.whatifsports.com/?pid=374326

OK. Now take a look this guy's transaction history. This is a strange situation and it's the reason I asked about the first guy. I signed him as a FA to a 3 year contract a few seasons back(seasons 8,9,10). Season 11 he was eligible for arb(why?, shouldn't he have been a FA again?) and I arbed him and he spent the whole year at the ML level. Arbed him again the next 2 seasons. He spent most of those seasons at AAA, only called up when the rosters expanded. After both yrs 12 & 13 he passed thru waivers. Now starting season 14 and he's up for arb again! Why? This is his 4th arb! Does it have something to do with his clearing waivers? Is it a glitch? Because for some reason he is arbing for a 4th time.

Arb eligibility is determined by ML Seasons. If he spends most of a year in the minors after going to arb, he could arb a 4th, 5th or even more times.

that's a bad link.

I'm gonna guess it because of his actual service time. He must not have gotten to his 3rd 172 days yet.

Thanks, csherwood. that answers it.