Players won the right to salary arbitration in 1973, predating even free agency. The right allows players with three years of service time (or less if they qualify as “Super-Twos”) not eligible for free agency to gain some leverage by allowing their salary to be determined through arbitration if no deal is reached.
For unsigned arbitration-eligible players, they are expected to exchange figures with clubs by this Friday, January 12, with hearings to be scheduled from January 29 to February 17. The Royals have just three such players this year - Kelvin Herrera, Brandon Maurer, and Nate Karns.