Can Hart Be Saved?

[Hardy Blonde]

Arbitration hearing likely for Crew, Hart
Three-member panel would hear arguements Thursday

02/09/10 2:21 PM EST

MILWAUKEE -- The Brewers remain in a contractual standoff with right-fielder Corey Hart and appear almost certain to go all the way to an arbitration hearing in St. Petersburg, Fla. on Thursday afternoon.

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel was first to report the top-secret date of Hart's hearing, and two Brewers officials confirmed it. Hart's hearing comes on the first date of trials between teams and their still-unsigned arbitration-eligible players, and he may be the first hearing of the year, though Brewers officials cannot be sure.

Hart, who earned $3.25 million last season in his first year of eligibility, filed for $4.8 million this time and is represented by agent Jeff Berry. The Brewers countered with a $4.15 million offer and have not spoken with Berry since Jan. 29, when a team-imposed deadline passed without a compromise.

Either way, Hart will be a Brewer in 2010 and will get at least a $900,000 raise. But for now, the sides remain in disagreement over his value.

"There has been no movement," Brewers negotiator Teddy Werner said. "I haven't spoken to Jeff since two Fridays ago when we made that hard deadline. We're certainly open to getting a deal done beforehand because nobody really wants to go to a hearing. But the way the discussions have evolved, it appears we are headed that way."

Berry was not immediately available to comment.

Werner and assistant general manager Gord Ash were scheduled to take a Tuesday afternoon flight from snowy Milwaukee to Tampa-St. Petersburg ahead of Thursday's hearing. If it goes that far, it would be the Brewers' first arbitration hearing since they lost a case to pitcher Jose Mercedes in 1998.

Only three players have gone all the way to a hearing with the Brewers. Mercedes won in '98, but the Brewers successfully argued against pitcher Mike Fetters in 1995 and infielder Jim Gantner in '92.

The process has evolved over the years, but today, each side presents a 60-minute oral argument to a three-member panel of judges along with a binder of statistics and graphs supporting its case. After a very brief recess, each side then has 30 minutes of rebuttal.

After that, it's up to the arbitrators. They have 24 hours to render a decision and must pick one figure or the other. There's no more room for compromise.

While the Brewers are waiting for the decision on Hart on Friday, they will be paying close attention to the Giants' scheduled case with ace right-hander Tim Lincecum, who is seeking a record $13 million in arbitration. If Lincecum wins, it could affect the Brewers' negotiations next year with right-hander Yovani Gallardo and left-hander Manny Parra, who are both eligible for arbitration for the first time.

[Hardy Blonde]

Hart, Crew have arbitration hearing
Decision from panel of arbitrators expected Friday morning

02/11/10 5:12 PM EST

MILWAUKEE -- One last chat with the representative for outfielder Corey Hart did not yield a compromise on Thursday morning, when the Brewers snapped their 12-year streak without an arbitration hearing.

Brewers assistant general manager Gord Ash and club negotiator Teddy Werner sat in on the hearing, which began at 8:30 a.m. CT and was attended by Hart and his agent, Jeff Berry. Now Hart's case is in the hands of three professional arbitrators, who will decide whether the player will earn the $4.8 million he's seeking for 2010, or the $4.15 million the Brewers offered.

A decision is expected Friday morning.

"I would say it went as expected," Werner said after the hearing. "I don't think anybody wanted to be in there, but, and I've said this before, there is this mechanism in place to resolve a disagreement over how a player would be compensated."

Ash and Werner accepted Berry's offer to meet on Wednesday evening and again on Thursday morning but couldn't strike a deal. The Brewers remained firm in their number -- slightly below the midpoint of filings -- which they had proposed before a Jan. 29 negotiating deadline.

So, the sides went into the hearing room. Each side had 60 minutes to present exhibits, followed by a brief break and then 30 minutes each for rebuttal. The Brewers' case was presented by outside counsel. The whole process lasted about 4 1/2 hours, Werner said.

According to The Associated Press, Hart's case was heard by professional arbitrators Elizabeth Neumeier, John Sands and Sylvia Skratek.

"I thought the tone was perfectly fair," Werner said. "We recognize that this is an uncomfortable process for everybody. We have a lot of confidence in Corey going forward, and we know that if the team is going to be successful in 2010, he's going to be a big part of that. I certainly don't think the tone was overly negative. It was simply both sides stating the facts and how comparable players get paid for past performances. We said Corey was comparable to Players A, B, and C, and they said he was comparable to Players X, Y and Z. That's it."

Hart earned $3.25 million during a 2009 campaign interrupted by an emergency appendectomy in August. Hart missed more than a month and finished with a .260 batting average, 12 home runs and 48 RBIs. He is penciled in as the team's starting right fielder for next season.

Hart is the fourth Brewers player to go all the way to a hearing in the salary arbitration process, which began in 1974. Before Thursday, the last was pitcher Jose Mercedes, who won his case in 1998.

Before Hart, the only other Brewers position player to go to a hearing was infielder Jim Gantner in 1992. The team won that case.

According to the AP, Hart's case was the first to be heard, and 11 more players had arbitration hearings scheduled through next week.

[redsrbetter]

Good luck Hart! I am interested to see how this turns out. Many players get fed up with their organization after these things.

[DirtyKash]

Ah, my achy breaky Hart.

Hopefully something gets done.

[redsrbetter]

You just had to throw that in there didn't you DK?

[Hardy Blonde]

Good luck Hart! I am interested to see how this turns out. Many players get fed up with their organization after these things.

Well this is the Brewers breaking a 12 year run. So the first arbitration in 12 years is a good thing. We'll see what happens.

[Hardy Blonde]

Brewers' Hart wins salary arbitration case
Outfielder's hearing is first of season, Brewers' first since 1998

02/12/10 9:11 AM EST

MILWAUKEE -- The first victory of Major League Baseball's salary arbitration season went to the players on Friday, when Corey Hart won his case against the Brewers and thus a $4.8 million salary for 2010.

The Brewers had filed for $4.15 million, and when last-minute negotiations on Thursday didn't yield a result, the sides went to a hearing in St. Petersburg, Fla. A three-member panel of judges rendered its ruling on Friday morning.

Hart made $3.25 million in a 2009 season interrupted by an emergency appendectomy on Aug. 2 that forced Hart to the disabled list for more than a month. He finished the season with a .260 batting average, 12 home runs, 48 RBIs and 11 stolen bases after collecting at least 20 homers and 20 steals in each of the two seasons prior.

He will turn 28 next month and is penciled in to be Milwaukee's starting right fielder in 2010. Hart's hearing was the Brewers' first since Jose Mercedes won his case against the team in 1998. Overall, the Brewers are now 2-for-4 in hearings.


Good save! Now lets hope his bat shows good work too!

[redsrbetter]

Is it sad to see the Brewers lose after having something to take pride in when having such a long stint without going to arbitration? In other words, couldn't they avoid this and simply gave Hart what he was expecting?

I'm not saying that he deserves to be payed more than the next guy, but I always hate to see how these things can sour a relationship. Hopefully everything remains calm and Hart winning may be the first step to recovery. If there ever was a problem at all. I am only speculating that there would be.

[Hardy Blonde]

I think if Hart does have a good year then things will be cool but yes I do agree that all of this could have already been avoided.

[brewersfan19]

Hart cant use the excuse he cant see anymore. He has glasses, and probably plays in contacts.

[Hardy Blonde]

I believe he does wear contacts because he had problems like Bill Hall with dirt.

[brewersfan19]

good one. I still like Bill Hall. I know he has struggled, but he sure seems like a cool guy.

[Hardy Blonde]

Of course not good enough to be kept on our team. Sigh.