CLEVELAND — In recent years, when major professional sports franchises win championships, it has become customary for World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. to send them a one-of-a-kind title belt with team logo side plates next to the main plate, but apparently, they are not alone in handing out the hardware.
According to a report from The Athletic, Major League Baseball is awarding a $20 WWE-style championship belt to the team that keeps salaries the lowest in arbitration.
MLB officials told The Athletic that the belt is “an informal recognition of those club's salary arbitration departments that did the best.”
The Cleveland Indians are one of six teams in the discussion for this year’s championship belt, along with the Houston Astros, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays and Minnesota Twins, for helping drive down the salaries.
Indians starting pitcher Trevor Bauer has never been afraid to speak his mind, and following his arbitration hearing, he had plenty to say about the final part of the process, a 10-minute rebuttal period that is handled by the MLB Labor Relations Board.
Bauer felt verbally attacked by the MLB Labor Relations Board members arguing for the Indians, who acquired the right-handed starter in a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks in December of 2012, just over a year after he was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2011 MLB Draft.
“They spent the last 10 minutes of the case trying a character assassination,” Bauer recalled after reporting for spring training. “I learned that giving to charity is a bad thing. I learned that agreeing with someone on a podcast just for the sake of argument that I was worth $10.5 million and should be the definitive answer why I’m not work $13 (million).
“Basically, that I’m a terrible human being, which was interesting on their part. I thought that giving to charity, especially because they didn’t mention it was a charitable campaign, just mentioned the name.”
In addition to the arbitration discussion, MLB is going through a unique time with free agency.
Several of the top players on the free-agent market remained unsigned by the start of spring-training games. Infielder Manny Machado spent all offseason looking for a long-term contract and it took until a week into spring training to get a 10-year, $300 million deal from the San Diego Padres. Then, free agent outfielder Bryce Harper inked a 13-year, $330 million pact with the Philadelphia Phillies on February 28.
“It seems like the last couple winters, things have progressed slower,” Indians manager Terry Francona said during spring training. “The two big guys were Harper and Machado, and when they’re still out there, it’s going to bottle up the next group. I get that. Then, it also slows down potential trades because teams think they still have a chance to get one of those guys.
“It’s kind of like a cycle. I don’t know why things have slowed down. You see guys signing later and later. I don’t know the reason. I know you read that the Players’ Association is worried. I’m sure when they talk, the union and Major League Baseball, those are things that they’ll talk about.”
MLB officials and the MLB Players’ Association are less than two years away from negotiating a new Collective Bargaining Agreement.