AL Cy Young Award winner Roy Halladay, 2001 NL Rookie of the Year Albert Pujols and New York Yankees second baseman Alfonso Soriano were among 65 players who filed for salary arbitration Thursday, the fewest to submit their names since
AL Cy Young Award winner Roy Halladay, 2001 NL Rookie of the Year Albert Pujols and New York Yankees second baseman Alfonso Soriano were among 65 players who filed for salary arbitration Thursday, the fewest to submit their names since 1999.
Houston pitchers Wade Miller, Roy Oswalt and Octavio Dotel also filed, as did Chicago Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood, Anaheim pitcher Jarrod Washburn and Florida pitchers Brad Penny and Carl Pavano.
Two free-agent pitchers who accepted arbitration offers from their former teams also were in the group: Philadelphia’s Kevin Millwood and the New York Yankees’ Gabe White.
Clubs have made an effort in recent years to force deals with non-star players well before mid-January, threatening not to offer them contracts unless they settled before filing.
Seventy-two players filed last year, down from 90 in 2002 and 102 in 2001. Just 62 filed in 1999.
