D-Backs decline to offer salary arbitration to Johnson or Dunn

The Diamondbacks did not offer salary arbitration to Randy Johnson or Adam Dunn at the Monday deadline, fearful that either might accept.

Dunn could earn at least $12 million through the arbitration process in 2009 and Johnson could make at least $10 million, and either number would throw the D-Backs' budget out of whack, general manager Josh Byrnes said.

"Based on the economy and how it appears to be affecting the marketplace, we dealt with the reality that either might accept" by the Dec. 7 deadline, Byrnes said.

The D-Backs' 2009 payroll is expected to be in the $70 million-$72 million range, and they say they have only about $10 million to spend on a second baseman to replace free agent Orlando Hudson and a pitcher to replace Johnson.

The D-Backs did offer arbitration to Hudson and relievers Brandon Lyon and Juan Cruz.

Hudson is expected to receive a multiyear deal, even in a tighter market, while Byrnes seemed to indicate that the D-Backs could absorb the salaries of Lyon and/or Cruz if either accepted. Lyon could make $4 million in 2009, Cruz about $3 million. They will know by Sunday.

Dunn, Johnson, Hudson and Cruz are Type A free agents, meaning they are in the top 25 percent of major leaguers at their position. Lyon is a Type B. Tony Clark and David Eckstein, the D-Backs' other eligible free agents, were not offered arbitration because there is no draft-pick compensation if they are lost.

In the arbitration process, a team that loses a Type A or B free agent is entitled to draft picks if the player does not accept arbitration. A Type A free agent is worth two extra picks and a Type B is worth one. If the player chooses to accept the club's offer, he stays with the team at a salary to be determined by an independent arbitrator.

The D-Backs already had told Johnson's camp they would not offer arbitration, but the Dunn move was a change of strategy.

When the D-Backs obtained Dunn from Cincinnati on Aug. 12, they believed Dunn would help them hold onto their NL West lead or, at worst, give them two extra draft choices next June 20. Instead, the D-Backs received nothing.

"There are short-term implications. There are long-term implications," Byrnes said. "We were hoping to get the draft picks. A lot has happened in the last four months to change our analysis. We studied the marketplace."

Dunn has hit 40 home runs in each of the last four seasons, but with sluggers Pat Burrell and Jason Giambi also available, Byrnes said the market for Dunn "was not obvious to us," hence the decision not to gamble on arbitration.