The grievance filed by the MLBPA on behalf of Pedro Alvarez will have their case heard today. The case revolves around the validity of his contract which Alvarez’s camp says came after the midnight deadline on August 15th and the Pirates say is a valid contract. Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports says:
Should the MLBPA succeed in doing so, the options of Das, the arbitrator, seem limitless. He could slap MLB on the wrist, say extending deadlines is illegal from here on and rule Alvarez’s contract valid. Or he could render the contract illegal, throw it out and make Alvarez a free agent.
The likelier result, sources from both sides agree, is somewhere in the middle, whether it’s reopening a negotiating window – the Pirates say they will not negotiate – or sending Alvarez back into next year’s draft, with the Pirates receiving a compensation pick per the CBA rules or, conceivably, getting docked that compensation pick for breaking them.
Also, ESPN writer Jerry Crasnick put out a good article on this topic.
