as settlement of lawsuits bears to actual trials. In each case, the process is unpleasant (though for different reasons) and there are thus very strong incentives to come to some kind of deal ahead of time.

It doesn’t surprise me to learn that 98% of arbitration cases are settled before hearing, or that the Red Sox have settled every case they’ve had. That’s not a critique of the piece, just to say that its findings are in line with what I’d have expected.

It does seem to me that some teams are notable hard-asses when it comes to arbitration, and the example that leaps to mind is the Marlins. Their skinflint attitude leads to a lot of hearings, and the way arbitration hearings go, probably a lot of discontent among their players. If Dan Uggla is nursing a grudge against his employer, it might well stem from their hearing last February.