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Yankees president fuels tension with Dellin Betances after winning arbitration hearing

Mark Townsend
·Yahoo Sports Contributor
Dellin Betances' arbitration hearing has created quite a stir in Yankees camp. (AP)
Dellin Betances’ arbitration hearing has created quite a stir in Yankees camp. (AP)

There’s a situation brewing at Yankees camp that could have a long-standing impact on the relationship between the team and star reliever Dellin Betances.

On Saturday, Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reported that Betances was defeated in his arbitration hearing against the team, meaning he will earn just $3M in 2017. The hard-throwing right-hander had filed at $5M, which would have set a new precedent for set up relievers.

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Betances’ elevated asking price has been a source of debate among writers and even fans. Many believe Betances’ role on the team as a set up man has unfairly capped his value. Others believe he shouldn’t be rewarded based on the assumption he’d excel in the closers role.

The arbiters sided with the Yankees, but team president Randy Levine wasn’t just satisfied with a victory. Following the announcement, he fueled tension with Betances and his representation by harshly criticizing their attempt to go above a pretty firmly established pay scale.

Woah, man. Slow that roll.

While $2M more is a pretty significant request relative to the arbitration process, it seemed like a worthwhile one for Betances to make. After all, his numbers truly have been spectacular. Betances has been an All-Star in each of the last three seasons, posting a ridiculous 1.93 ERA while recording 392 strikeouts in 247 innings. That’s the most for any reliever over that span.

And it’s not like manager Joe Girardi has put him in advantageous positions. Betances has been the go-to guy, pitching anywhere from the fifth to eighth innings and on several occasions throwing multiple innings in order to bridge the gap to New York’s closer.

With that said, Levine’s comments on the money probably had merit just based on history, but his decision to deliver them publicly makes him look terrible and will backfire in the court of public opinion.

One thing’s for sure. They immediately got the attention of Betances’ agent Jim Murray. He wasted no time firing back at Levine.

Based on Murray’s comments, it appears this tension runs much deeper than $2M.

We also heard from Betances, who arrived to camp Saturday morning looking to put the hearing behind him. That was, until Levine started spouting off.

Betances will not be eligible for free agency until 2020. A lot can change between now and then, but the awkwardness that exists now is very real, and will require some serious work to patch up.

Rick Shapiro, a senior union executive who argued on behalf of Betances during the hearing, has also jumped in. He said the following to FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal.

“For the president of the Yankees to say the things he said is totally unprecedented in salary-arbitration history, an absolute disgrace to the arbitration process and to all of Major League Baseball.

“The only thing that has been unprecedented in the last 36 hours is that a club official, after winning a case, called a news conference to effectively gloat about his victory – that’s unprecedented.

“To suggest that Dellin Betances was used or misled by his representatives – meaning both his agents and his union – is a categorically false statement. Dellin Betances, his agent and his union collectively decided what his filing number would be. He himself was fully involved. That is one of the great parts about it,” said Shapiro, who is in charge of the union’s arbitration preparation and policy.

“In 30 years of doing this, what happens is that either nothing is said about an arbitration award, or the losing party will say, ‘We respect the process, respect the arbitrator’s opinion. We may disagree with it, but we move forward.’”

Needless to say, this is not an ideal way to open training camp.

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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!