Betances, Yankees argue final arbitration case

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) Reliever Dellin Betances and the New York Yankees have argued the year's final salary arbitration case, the first for the team in nearly a decade.

Eligible for arbitration for the first time, Betances asked for $5 million. The Yankees argued during Friday's hearing he should be paid $3 million.

A decision by arbitrators Steven Wolf, Dan Brent, and Sylvia Skratek is expected Saturday. Players and teams have split 14 decisions this year, and the 15 hearings are the most since clubs won 10-of-16 decisions in 1994.

New York renewed Betances at the major-league minimum $507,500 last year. A setup man for the first four months, he took over as closer after the trades of Aroldis Chapman to the Chicago Cubs and Andrew Miller to Cleveland.

A right-hander who turns 28 in March, Betances figures to be primarily a setup man again following Chapman's decision to return to the Yankees, who gave him an $86 million, five-year contract - a record for a relief pitcher. Betances struck out 126, leading big-league relievers for the third straight year, and went 3-6 with a 3.08 ERA and 12 saves in 17 chances.

Since defeating Mariano Rivera in 2000, the Yankees' only arbitration hearing was in 2008 when pitcher Chien-Ming Wang was awarded a raise from $489,500 to the team's $4-million offer instead of his $4.6-million request.