Limbo, it turns out, is fine by him.
“They got a great deal on my first arbitration year,” Thomas said recently. “I don’t want to settle.”
He’s referring to a three-season deal he and the club signed after his first year, a contract that paid him $700K per year rather than the normal $500K, but bought out one season of his arbitration period. “It was a good deal for both sides at that time,” Thomas said. “I gave the team an extra season of low salary in return for getting the money earlier that I would have gotten if my arb number would have been $1.1M.” Given that he would have been coming off a 3.5 WAR season, insiders suggest Thomas’s first year of arbitration would likely have been $2-$3M, however, suggesting the 25-year-old infielder left a million or more on the table.
This year, his numbers were down, however, as he blasted only 17 homers and a .282/.309/.507 line, good for 1.5 WAR. In addition, his glove is … well … it’s not a boon. Pundits suggest his salary will be raised to something south of $4M, however, and Thomas is looking for something more northward.
Team insiders suggest the club has explored options for a multi-season deal, but the bloodthirsty leeches Thomas has representing him are apparently coming to their negotiations tripping on acid. “Their requests suggest they see reality in a different way than we do,” said an anonymous source.
DEALS IMMINENT?
Of equal interest to fans, however, are rumors that the club is finding more progress in deals with other key cogs in the machine. Specifically starting pitcher Carlos Valle, who the club suggest may sign a deal that would clear the slate when it comes to arbitration—a deal that is rumored to pay the player more than he’d get in arbitration next year in return for reduced rates at the tail end of the deal.
Shortstop Miguel Padilla and center fielder Mauro Saucedo are also said to be closing on one-season extensions. Fans do not seem particularly thrilled with the idea of watching these two play defense again (Padilla committed a comically absurd 40 errors in 2038), but some are hoping this suggests Padilla would move to second base in order to make room for the highly anticipated arrival of Dong-po Thum.
In addition, the team has been meeting with 1B platoon mate Dimiao Laqui, and word is that a cheap deal is imminent.