Ottoneu Arbitration Omnibus VII

Years ago, Brad Johnson created the Ottoneu Arbitration Omnibus, trying to gather all the Ottoneu arbitration content from the site into a single place. It seems every year I get questions about arbitration strategies and plans, and the reality is, I don’t always have a lot more to say. Much of how I think about arbitration was shaped years ago and while I certainly make adjustments year-over-year and learn new things, the high level stuff stays the same.

But the last edition of this omnibus was published in 2019, and it is probably due for a refresh. So, without further ado, your one stop shop for all things Ottoneu Arbitration.

Intro

Ottoneu Arbitration: Strategies For the First Offseason Activity – My piece from 2011, when all leagues were vote off leagues and the now-more-popular allocation system didn’t exist. This describes how the vote off process works and goes into some basic strategies. While most leagues use allocations, this is a great place to start if yours still uses the voting system.

New And Improved Ottoneu Arbitration Process – My post introducing the allocation arbitration option when it was launched back in 2012. This explains the allocation system in full detail along with the motivation behind creating it. Start here if you’re new to allocations and want to be thorough.

Basic Strategy

Ottoneu Arbitration Guide – I posit three of the most popular voting tactics: vote often, keep players keepable (but just barely), and avoid prospects. Use this post to get in the strategic mindset.

Arbitration is Here, Choose Wisely – Joe Douglas with some thoughts on targeting teams, rather than players, in arbitration, and focusing on the best assets on those teams

Arbitration Advice from the Community – This is a bit outdated at this point, but it is a great overview of crowdsourced arbitration strategies. If you are tired of hearing me repeat the same things every year, here are some other voices.

Ottoneu Arbitration Technique #1: Measure Against the Average and Ottoneu Arbitration Technique #2: Tip the Scales – In these two pieces, Lucas Kelly goes through some basic strategies, but also gets strategic to help managers implement these strategies.

Ottoneu Arbitration Technique #3: The Simplest Method – And then I got fairly un-strategic and suggested a strategy for managers who either don’t have the time or don’t feel as confident in their ability to evaluate who deserves arbitration.

Deeper Strategy

Revisiting Ottoneu Arbitration Strategies Part I and Part II – In 2022, I did a deeper and more data-based dive into arbitration strategies. This pair of articles is a great place to look for a deeper understanding of why I think about arbitration the way that I do.

Ottoneu Arbitration: Examples From The Original League – Want more help with voting leagues? This article provides my process for selecting which player to nominate on a given roster. As an added bonus, this article is a veritible who’s who of random dudes and odd, if not downright bad, decisions. At the time, a $5 Danny Espinosa made the short list of vote targets for one team while a $1 Edwin Encarnacion did not.

Ottoneu Arbitration: A Guide For 2014 – Brad Johnson outlines his own tactics and considerations. At a high level, you can make your dollars felt over time by bidding on values or try to push players into the draft pool. Don’t forget to account for scarcity, stability, prospects, resource allocation, and collaboration.

Arbitration by Team Rather than Player – A little bit of a deeper look about what it means to allocate to a team, rather than players. It’s not about hitting the team that just finished first, but the teams you think are the most threatening for next year.

Avoid Rookies With Your Ottoneu Allocations – This is a favorite topic of mine. In this one, I try to provide the math along with a nice two-by-two table that clearly illustrates the upside/downside of allocating to prospects.

Puzzling Through Ottoneu Arbitration – Brad Johnson turned to the readers for their thoughts and opinions via an arbitration puzzle. In this post, he selects the most poignant comments for a slightly different perspective on how to approach allocations.

Ottoneu Tactics: Who To Arbitrate, Early Trade Thoughts: In this piece, Brad examines the tactic of targeting owners by quality. The basic premise: the best owners in your league might deserve a full $3 allocation even if their players don’t necessarily merit the attention.

Arbitrary Arbitration Salary Increases – Lucas gets tactical for 2024, but also gives some strategic insight

Case Studies

Ottoneu Arbitration: First Pass – Brad reveals his process and first round of selections in the league FanGraphs Staff Two. In the comments, he discusses the relative merits of clustered ($3 to one player) versus spread ($1 to three players) allocations.

Tinkering With Ottoneu Arbitration Selections – Fast forward a few weeks for an update to Brad’s “First Pass,” linked above. As the title suggests, this article focuses on how to tinker with your selections once other owners have made theirs. In short, ask yourself “what is my goal” and then identify which players don’t fit.

Ottoneu Arbitration: Who’s Getting Hit? – I take a look at which players are getting the most attention during arbitration season. Unsurprisingly, a few names have proven most popular. I think this piece does a good job analyzing the selections, including which ones were smartest.

Arb Hurts: What I’m Learning from the Allocations to my ottoneu teams – I flip this script in this one and look at the arbitration allocations towards my team, rather than the allocations I made. The idea was that my reactions to how my team was impacted would be a good way to identify what arbitration hurts the most and what is easiest to brush off. One thing that stood out: the impact of spreading dollars around

Results

We don’t have deep dives into arbitration results from every year, but there are quite a few, if you are interested in what we saw in arbitrations past.

Election Results: Ottoneu Arbitration Summary (2011, vote only)

Ottoneu Arbitration Results (2015)

Ottoneu Arbitration Results (2016)

Ottoneu Arbitration Results (2017)

2019 Ottoneu Arbitration Results – Top 25 Players (2019)

2022 Arbitration League and Team Data and 2022 Ottoneu Arbitration Player Data (2022)

2025-26 Ottoneu Arbitration Results Recap and Arbitration by Position (2025)