Theriot may be first to go through with arbitration with Cubs in 17 years

Seventeen years ago, Mark Grace and the Cubs were not able to reach an agreement on Grace's contract, which led to an arbitration hearing that the Cubs won.  Since then, no Cubs player has had to go to arbitration.

At least until now.  It looks like Theriot may break the 17 year streak as, to date, he and the Cubs have not been able to reach an agreement.

The Cubs shortstop has asked for $3.4 million while the Cubs have offered $2.6 million.  The rumor is that the Cubs have offered more unofficially while Theriot is still stuck on $3.4 million.

Major League Baseball will assign hearing dates for teams and players who have not resolved their arbitration disputes before February 20. In these cases, an independent arbitrator presides over a hearing where both sides present their cases and explain why the arbitrator should side with them. The arbitrator must choose either the team's number or the player's figure. He's not allowed to award anything in between the two numbers.


Last season, Theriot batted .284 with 7 homers, 54 RBIs, 20 doubles, 5 triples and 21 stolen bases.  He has walked 51 times and stuck out 93 times.