Chien-Ming Wang has lost his arbitration case - his 2008 salary will be a paltry $4 million. It's still tough to figure out why there was even a hearing in the first place. Wang submitted a figure of $4.6 million and the Yankees' proposal, which was only $600,00 less, won in the end.
Sure, saving some money is nice, but not at the expense of the morale of one of your best starting pitchers. Furthermore, Wang was disappointed that the Yankees didn't explore a multiyear deal, a la Robinson Cano. I can't imagine that he's too happy now that the Yankees took him to court over a sum of money that makes Hank Steinbrenner's lunch bill look stingy (I presume that it is quite expensive).
To make things worse, trade winds howling Wang's name have been blowing (seriously, no puns intended). The Yanks would need some kind of useful Major League talent in return, so I don't see this happening. What would they do, trade him for middle relief?
No, they'll keep him, and an extension is possible in the future. It must be comforting to Chien-Ming that his "loss" still netted him a bigger paycheck than any previous arbitration salary for a first-year eligible starting pitcher. Even when you lose, sometimes you win, I suppose.
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New York Times reported that Cashman was not interested in split the difference and the offer on table was 4M only. Wang actually has the right attitude toward the process.
I am glad Wang doesn't have to read all those nasty messages about trading him for whatever just because they "believe" the big three are capable of winning 15 games each.
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