When we starting hearing about players avoiding arbitration a few weeks ago, Avisail Garcia was at first the only White Sox player that rumor mongers pointed out had not yet come to terms. Later, it came out that the team had also had trouble finding common ground with Yolmer Sanchez. The Sox filed for a $2.1 million salary, the same as MLB Trade Rumors’ prediction, while Sanchez filed at $2.35 million.
The natural assumption since that point has been that a quarter-million dollars would not be enough to trigger the Sox’s first arbitration hearing in 17 years, and yet here we are.