Yankees Defeat Dellin Betances In Arbitration Case

The Yankees have won their arbitration case against Dellin Betances.  Fallout from the arbiter’s decision is possible. Betances made his first appearance in Spring Training Saturday morning.

The Yankees have won the battle with Dellin Betances, but hopefully, have not lost the war.

The Yankees renewed Betances at the major league minimum $507,500 last year. Used primarily as a set-up man at the beginning of the 2016 season, Betances excelled in that role. When Aroldis Chapman was traded to the Chicago Cubs and Andrew Miller to Cleveland, he assumed the role of closer and noticeably faltered.

Betances went into Friday’s hearing asking for a raise to $5 million, while the Yankees countered with $3 million. The difference was stark, and the two sides were never able to come to an agreement before the hearing on an in-between figure. Arbiters are restricted in their decisions and can only decide on one of the two amounts presented to them.

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Although details about the hearing were made public, it is commonplace for the player to sit there while his team tells him point blank why he doesn’t deserve the money he is asking to be paid. An unconfirmed report claims that one of the criticisms aimed at Betances by the Yankees was the number of stolen bases he allowed, which would be a killer for any closer.

The New York Times reports that following the hearing:

"“Several of his advisers could be heard nearby grousing about a Yankees tactic during the hearing — namely, focusing on Betances’ slow delivery to home plate, which allowed base runners to steal 21 bases against him last season in 21 attempts.”"

Over the past three seasons, Betances has a 1.93 ERA with a combined 392 strikeouts in 247 innings.

His struggles last season as a closer are mitigated by the signing of Aroldis Chapman and should allow Betances to return to his role as the team’s set-up man, where he appeared to be more comfortable.

At 29, Betances has his best years ahead of him. But it remains to be seen if he can harness himself in taking constructive criticism from the coaching staff and acting on it to improve as a pitcher, rather than remaining a thrower. Along those lines, one area he needs to work on is exactly what the Yankees called his attention to – holding runners close better, or quickening his delivery to the plate.

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His trade value is high at the moment and if the Yankees deem him to be a “head case,” it is likely he will be dealt to another team. For now, he will remain under the microscope as the team gauges the effects of losing his case has on his demeanor and temperament over the next several weeks.