That's right, the Houston Astros spent less in arbitration than any other team in the league, ending at $4.5 million for three players. Before you jump to that particular conclusion, three other teams had as many arbitration eligible players as Houston (3) and one had only 1 player (White Sox).
↵All of the other teams spent more than Houston, though.
↵Spending is the easy target for much of the fan frustration over the past 10 years in Houston. After all, that covers the time when Carlos Beltran left, Jeff Kent was not offered arbitration, Andy Pettitte was not offered arbitration and, well, you get the drift.
↵However, this seems like both a smart move and a product of Houston's poor draft record in recent years. See, the less young players coming through the system, the less arbitration eligible guys who pop up. It's also smart for Houston to save money in this area, cutting costs while waiting for some of these big contracts to come off the books.
↵So, it's both important and not important at all that Houston only spent $4 million in arbitration. If that makes sense.
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