Part I.) Player Background Information
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Brian Wilson, relief pitcher for the San Francisco Giants was born March 16th, 1982 in Winchester, MA and grew up in a New Hampshire town known as Londonderry. He spent his high school years being a trouble maker and getting kicked out of classes while he claimed “baseball was the only thing on his mind, and his feistiness might have just led him to the big leagues.” (NewHampshire.com, 2011) Wilson’s amateur career began when he was given a scholarship to Louisiana State University where he played for the LSU Tigers baseball team, eventually becoming their #2 starter. Wilson’s professional career started in 2003 when he was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 24th round of the Major League Baseball Draft. Wilson made his major league debut in 2006 and he finished the season with 31 games and an ERA of 5.40 ( MLB.com, 2011) In 2008 Wilson becomes the Giants full-time closer and named to the All Star team for the first time and ended the season with an ERA of 4.62. Wilson showed improvement in his pitching and appearances on television in 2009 as he stepped into the spotlight.
Part II.) February 2010 Arbitration Process
The chart below shows Brian Wilson’s statistics for the 2009 season. Throughout the year he played the role of closer for the Giants. Some statistics for closers might carry too much weight in terms of valuation. For example, a greater number of saves implies that a player is vital to the club, when in fact many save situations only require getting three outs with no runners on base and a comfortable lead. This has caused many organizations to overvalue closers and in turn not be able to afford players that have more of an impact on every game (contact hitters, starting pitchers). However, statistics for Brian Wilson have been impressive throughout the 2009 season. This provides a starting point to determine the correct wage that Brian Wilson should be awarded in 2010. By analyzing these...
