2019 Ottoneu Arbitration Results – Top 25 Players

Brad recently posted his Ottoneu Arbitration Omnibus which will tell you everything you need to know about one of the highlights of the Ottoneu off season.  In summary, arbitration in Ottoneu refers to the competitive process all leagues go through to bring individual player salaries back into balance.  In other words, it’s the economic counter weight to full scale dynasty that makes Ottoneu so unique compared to other fantasy platforms.

Most leagues choose the arbitration “allocation” process, which allows each owner in the league to assign a small salary increase to the players they believe are most valuable to their opponents’ rosters.  This rule specifically states:

In the interest of maintaining competitive balance, there are two distinct arbitration options.

a. The allocation system gives a $25 budget to each team in the league.

b. The team must allocate this budget towards players on other teams.

c. Each team must allocate at least one dollar to every other team, and no team can allocate more than $3 to any other team.

d. At the end of the allocation period, all players have their salary increased by the amount allocated towards them.

e. Allocations take place after the initial offseason salary increase, so any allocations will be in addition to the $1 or $2 increase each player gets at the end of the season.

f. If a team does not allocate at least one dollar to every other team, none of their allocations will count and it will be as if they did not participate at all.

g. If a team does not allocate all $25, none of their allocations will count and it will be as if they did not participate at all.

Which players receive the most allocation dollars in arbitration? In general, it’s the best players from the previous season, and usually the players that have jumped in significant value from a previously low market price (salary).

With 2019 arbitration complete, here’s a quick look at the top 25 players to receive arbitration increases across several Ottoneu formats:

Top 25 Ottoneu Arbitration Magnets – All Leagues
Player POS AVG $ AVG $ Post Change $ Change %
Juan Soto OF $21 $31 $10 48%
Ronald Acuna OF $28 $37 $9 34%
Pete Alonso 1B $7 $17 $9 124%
Cody Bellinger 1B/OF $29 $37 $8 28%
Yordan Alvarez OF $5 $12 $7 137%
Gerrit Cole SP $32 $39 $7 22%
Christian Yelich OF $40 $46 $7 16%
Rafael Devers 3B $15 $21 $6 41%
Walker Buehler SP $18 $24 $6 31%
Alex Bregman SS/3B $35 $41 $6 16%
Fernando Tatis Jr. SS $9 $15 $6 59%
Anthony Rendon 3B $30 $35 $5 17%
Ketel Marte 2B/SS/OF $8 $13 $5 63%
Shane Bieber SP $9 $14 $5 55%
Gleyber Torres 2B/SS $15 $19 $5 33%
Jack Flaherty SP $11 $16 $4 40%
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 3B $19 $22 $4 20%
Lucas Giolito SP $5 $9 $4 67%
Trevor Story SS $25 $28 $3 13%
Austin Meadows OF $9 $12 $3 36%
Eugenio Suarez 3B $15 $18 $3 21%
Mike Clevinger SP $13 $16 $3 21%
Justin Verlander SP $31 $33 $3 9%
Jacob DeGrom SP $42 $44 $3 6%
Jorge Soler OF $6 $9 $3 41%
The change in average salary due to arbitration allocations across all Ottoneu leagues (2019).
Top 25 Ottoneu Arbitration Magnets – Roto Leagues
Player POS AVG $ AVG $ Post Change $ Change %
Ronald Acuna OF $29 $39 $10 36%
Pete Alonso 1B $6 $16 $10 159%
Juan Soto OF $19 $28 $9 45%
Yordan Alvarez OF $5 $13 $8 163%
Cody Bellinger 1B/OF $28 $35 $7 27%
Christian Yelich OF $39 $46 $7 18%
Gerrit Cole SP $30 $37 $7 23%
Fernando Tatis Jr. SS $9 $16 $6 70%
Rafael Devers 3B $15 $22 $6 40%
Walker Buehler SP $17 $23 $6 34%
Anthony Rendon 3B $28 $33 $5 19%
Alex Bregman SS/3B $34 $39 $5 15%
Gleyber Torres 2B/SS $16 $20 $5 31%
Shane Bieber SP $9 $13 $4 52%
Jack Flaherty SP $11 $16 $4 38%
Ketel Marte 2B/SS/OF $7 $11 $4 58%
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 3B $19 $22 $4 21%
Trevor Story SS $25 $29 $4 15%
Lucas Giolito SP $5 $9 $4 75%
Mike Clevinger SP $12 $16 $3 26%
Josh Bell 1B $8 $11 $3 36%
Austin Meadows OF $8 $11 $3 36%
Eugenio Suarez 3B $14 $17 $3 22%
Adalberto Mondesi SS $12 $15 $3 25%
Justin Verlander SP $30 $33 $3 9%
The change in average salary due to arbitration allocations across all Ottoneu Roto leagues (2019).
Top 25 Ottoneu Arbitration Magnets – FGPTS Leagues
Player POS AVG $ AVG $ Post Change $ Change %
Juan Soto OF $21 $33 $12 55.7%
Ronald Acuna OF $27 $37 $10 37.2%
Pete Alonso 1B $7 $17 $9 128.4%
Cody Bellinger 1B/OF $28 $37 $9 31.4%
Gerrit Cole SP $32 $40 $7 23.2%
Yordan Alvarez OF $5 $13 $7 132.7%
Christian Yelich OF $40 $47 $7 16.7%
Alex Bregman SS/3B $36 $42 $6 17.8%
Rafael Devers 3B $14 $20 $6 44.8%
Walker Buehler SP $18 $24 $6 34.0%
Ketel Marte 2B/SS/OF $8 $14 $6 71.6%
Fernando Tatis Jr. SS $10 $15 $6 59.0%
Anthony Rendon 3B $31 $36 $6 18.0%
Shane Bieber SP $9 $14 $5 57.1%
Gleyber Torres 2B/SS $14 $19 $5 35.8%
Jack Flaherty SP $11 $15 $5 42.7%
Lucas Giolito SP $5 $9 $4 71.0%
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 3B $18 $22 $4 19.9%
Trevor Story SS $25 $28 $4 14.2%
Austin Meadows OF $8 $12 $3 41.3%
Eugenio Suarez 3B $15 $18 $3 21.4%
Jorge Soler OF $7 $10 $3 46.8%
Ozhaino Albies 2B $15 $18 $3 19.6%
Marcus Semien SS $8 $10 $3 37.1%
Xander Bogaerts SS $29 $32 $3 9.6%
The change in average salary due to arbitration allocations across all Ottoneu FanGraphs Points leagues (2019).





Trey is a 20+ year fantasy veteran and an early adopter of Ottoneu fantasy sports. He currently administers the Ottoneu community, a network of ~1,200 fantasy baseball and football fans talking sports daily. More resources here: http://community.ottoneu.com

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Nelson S.
4 years ago

Curious to know some of the max hits. Did anyone get a 20+$ bump?

kidrobot
4 years ago
Reply to  Nelson S.

Highest increase in my league was Soto from $16 to $32. Second was Acuna from $23 to $36
I like it when there’s a mix of owners some of whom choose 3 x $1 increases and others who stick $3 on the top guy from each team. I’m one of the former.

kevinahof
4 years ago
Reply to  Nelson S.

Soto got hit with $23 in our league… but he started at only $5 because we just switched to arbitration this season.

Robertmember
4 years ago
Reply to  Nelson S.

The highest in my league was my Alonso ($15 in Arb). I was annoyed that Soto only got $11 (from $5 to $16).

Ball in Glove
4 years ago
Reply to  Nelson S.

My league’s highest was $13, Alonso and Soroka.