Baseball Arbitration

Salary Arbitration

Mark Bellhorn vs. Boston Red Sox

Table of Contents

I. Law: Criteria for Salary Arbitration

II. Introduction/Background

III. Career Statistics

i. Major League 1997

ii. Major League 1998, 2000, 2001

iii. Major League 2002

iv. Major League 2003

v. Major League 2004

IV. Past Compensation

V. Comparable Players

a. Comparative Information

b. Comparative Analysis

i. Marcus Giles вЂ" Appendix B

ii. Jerry Hairston Jr. вЂ" Appendix C

iii. Adam Kennedy вЂ" Appendix D

iv. Luis Rivas вЂ" Appendix E

VI. Conclusion

VII. Appendices

i. Mark Bellhorn вЂ" Appendix A

Law: Criteria for Salary Arbitration

Article IV (D) 12: Criteria [for Salary Arbitration]

(a) The criteria will be the quality of the Player's contribution to his Club during the past season (including but not limited to his overall performance, special qualities of leadership and public appeal), the length and consistency of his career contribution, the record of the Player's past compensation, comparative baseball salaries, the existence of any physical or mental defects on the part of the Player, and the recent performance record of the Club including but not limited to its League standing and attendance as an indication of public acceptance. Any evidence may be submitted which is relevant to the above criteria, and the arbitrator or arbitration panel shall assign such weight to the evidence as shall appear appropriate under the circumstances. The arbitrator or arbitration panel shall, except for a Player with five or more years of Major League service, give particular attention, for comparative salary purposes, to the contracts of Players with Major League service not exceeding one annual service group above the Player's annual service group. This shall not limit the ability of a Player or his representative, because of special accomplishment, to argue the equal relevance of salaries of Players without regard to service, and the arbitrator or arbitration panel shall give whatever weight to such argument as is deemed appropriate.

(b) Evidence of the following shall not be admissible:

(i) The financial position of the Player and the Club;

(ii) Press comments, testimonials or similar material bearing on the performance of either the Player or the Club, except that recognized annual Player awards for playing excellence shall not be excluded

(iii) Offers made by either Player or Club prior to arbitration

Introduction

Mark Christian Bellhorn was born on August 23, 1974 in Boston, Massachusetts to Marilyn and Ted Bellhorn. However, his family only lived in Boston for about two weeks after Mark was born because Mark’s father had just completed a veterinary internship. His father is now a professor of veterinary medicine at the University of Tennessee and his mother is an elementary school teacher. At first they moved to Ohio, but soon moved to the warm, baseball friendly, climate of Florida.

Mark’s academic career started at Oviedo High School which is just northeast of Orlando, Florida. Throughout high school Mark was a two sport athlete; not only did he play baseball but he also played basketball. He graduated from Oviedo in 1992 and immediately entered into Auburn University in Alabama in 1993. Bellhorn lettered in baseball at Auburn from 1993-1995, helping guide the Tigers to a 134-57 record, three NCAA regional trips, and a College World Series appearance in 1994. Mark earned All-America honors in 1995 after hitting .342, with 12 home runs, and 60 RBI under the coaching of Hal Baird. In his three year career at Auburn University, Mark hit .317 with 43 doubles, 25 home runs, and 138 RBI.

Bellhorn only attended Auburn from 1993-1995 because he was drafted during the second round of the 1995 Amateur draft by the Oakland Athletics due to his superior collegiate achievements and solid batting average. His first MLB debut was made on June 10, 1997 with the Oakland A’s. The 6’1, 205lb., right-handed infielder, who is also a switch hitter, continued with the Oakland A’s until November of 2001 in which he was traded to the Chicago Cubs with the perseverance to improve his career. Mark ended up doing just that; on opening day he was the starting third basemen for the Chicago Cubs after only playing in the MLB for four years. He finished his first season with the Cubs with 27 home runs, 56 RBI, and a .258 batting average. One major accomplishment that Mark had during his time with the Cubs was when he became the first player in the National League to ever hit two home runs from both sides of the plate in the same inning. After he played 51 games with the Cubs he was then traded to the Colorado Rockies for 2002 All-Star, Jose Hernandez. Mark held some great assets for Colorado, including the fact that he is able to switch hit and can play first, second, or third base.

In December of 2003, Bellhorn made his most current move to the Boston Red Sox in which he has become the starting second baseman for the Sox. His patience and determination has become a great part of his game while being on the Red Sox. Within a ten game span during the 2004 season, Bellhorn had a mediocre batting average, but managed to rack up 15 walks and had a .500 on base percentage. Often times he would work the pitcher deep into the count which propelled him to become one of the leagues leaders in walks. He finished his 2004 season with .264 batting average, 17 home runs, and 82 RBI.

Career Statistics: Refer to Appendix A

In 1997, Bellhorn began his Major League career with the Oakland Athletics. He played in 68 games and had 224 at bats. Bellhorn’s batting average was .228 while adding 51 hits, 6 homeruns,