Boise's first major order of off-season business, salary arbitration, is in the books. The Spuds had twelve cases to resolve, one fewer than the previous year. The team immediately declined offers to 1B Drew Hair and OFs Victor Batista and Vince Osborn, resulting in all three players becoming free agents. Batista and Osborn spent the entirety of the year in the minors, bouncing from level to level as veteran depth where needed. Hair appeared in 77 games for Boise this past season as a lefthanded-batting platoon role player at 1B and DH, slashing .245/.294/.456. Hair showed promise at times since joining the Spuds via trade in 2040, but was found to be expendable with the emergence of prospect Pepe Madrid (.320/.400/.544 in 142 games at Triple-A Salt Lake City), who expects to take over for Hair in a platoon role next spring.| PLAYER | 2041 SALARY | TEAM OFFER | PLAYER DEMAND |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dennis French | $10,000,000 | $10,700,000 | $11,187,500 |
| Yunosuke Terada | $4,250,000 | $4,760,000 | $6,000,000 |
| Dave Walsh | $1,250,000 | $1,550,000 | $1,750,000 |
| José Campos | $950,000 | $950,000 | $1,375,000 |
| José Rivera | $830,000 | $920,000 | $1,250,000 |
| Laurent Durand | $500,000 | $775,000 | $1,160,000 |
| Kevin Lyons | $700,000 | $680,000 | $1,240,000 |
| Abay Omoruyi | $500,000 | $525,000 | $1,250,000 |
In General Manager Joe Lederer's first three years of arbitration hearings, the Spuds are 22-6. Around certain circles, Lederer, who has been tagged with the moniker "Sneaky Joe" by some, has the reputation of an arbitration savage. Some have gone as far to say Lederer's methods in front of arbitrators "borders on a congressional filibuster," with numerous three-inch thick binders of statistical analysis and hour-long video and Power Point presentations per case. Terada, who lost his third-straight arbitration hearing under Lederer's watch, told reporters "I dunno how he does it, man. Players might as well just take what the team offers them after the season. Why risk arbitration? You're just going to lose anyway."
With arbitration hearings in the team's rear view, Lederer turns his attention to free agency. As expected, the Spuds are targeting several players in free agency and have currently engaged with multiple teams about potential trades. With a new payroll budget of $110M handed out by ownership and over $53M in room to spend, it promises to be another exciting and wild winter in Boise.