Wang to Earn $4 Million After Arbitration Loss - 美國職棒

Wang to Earn $4 Million After Arbitration Loss
By JACK CURRY
Published: February 16, 2008

TAMPA, Fla. — Chien-Ming Wang experienced his first loss since a forgettable
postseason Friday when he lost his arbitration case to the Yankees. Wang,
who had been seeking $4.6 million this season, will earn $4 million,
the amount the Yankees offered him.

Even after Alan Nero, Wang’s agent, offered to split the difference,
the Yankees were not interested. Although the Yankees won their first
arbitration case in eight years, they could have risked offending Wang,
their No. 1 starter.

General Manager Brian Cashman said he was not worried, noting that Wang
received the highest arbitration award ever for a first-time eligible pitcher.

“There was no reason to go higher than four,” Cashman said. “Settling
at the midpoint because of an inflated file number would have made no sense.”

Nero said: “The disappointment here is the Yankees made little or no effort
to settle. We move on and now it’s time to play baseball.”

Wang, who has won 38 games in the last two seasons, wanted to sign a
long-term contract. But the Yankees told Wang that he must wait because
a pitcher’s health can be fragile. Because second baseman Robinson Cano
signed a four-year, $30 million deal and Wang has almost the identical
service time, Nero pushed for multiyear contract but was rebuffed.

Before Wang knew that he had lost his case, he told Taiwanese reporters
that he viewed going through arbitration as a “learning process” because
he would hear about the areas in which the Yankees thought he needed to
improve.

“If we lose, I’ll have to move on and concentrate on the season,”
said Wang, who earned $489,500 in 2007.

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