TAMPA — Dellin Betances and the Yankees will face each other Friday at the Vinoy Renaissance in St. Petersburg, Fla., in an arbitration hearing that will decide how much the three-time All-Star reliever will be paid for the upcoming season.
The verdict will be announced Saturday, when Betances is expected to arrive in camp. He hasn’t been in camp yet but is working out elsewhere with the Yankees’ blessing.
Betances, who made $507,500 last season when the bullet-throwing right-hander with a bowel-locking breaking ball, filed at $5 million and the Yankees countered with $3 million.
Even if the Yankees win, the $3 million Betances would get is the most for an elite setup reliever in the arbitration process for the first time.
Once the Yankees filed, there wasn’t any chance of the pitcher and team reaching common ground for one year. Instead, Betances will listen to reasons why he isn’t worth $5 million and the Yankees will hear from the pitcher’s camp that he is.
Not all players handle well hearing the reasons the club doesn’t value him as highly as he does himself and it has affected some players on the field.
“I think it’s an opportunity to argue fair value,’’ said general manager Brian Cashman, who will attend the hearing. “Put the best foot forward and have an honest assessment of where you are at.’’
Yankees president Randy Levine will argue the case for the club, which last went to arbitration in 2008, when pitcher Chien-Ming Wang was defeated.
Betances, who turns 29 next month, has been an All-Star in each of the last three seasons. After struggling as a closer last season after Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman were traded in July, Betances will return to the setup role with Chapman back via free agency.
Long before the second day of pitchers and catchers working out at George M. Steinbrenner Field on Thursday, Chapman worked out on a back field throwing baseballs that weigh between 4 and 12 ounces. An official ball weighs 5-5.25 ounces.
“It works all the muscles in the arm, the elbow and shoulder,’’ Chapman said. “This helps [the arm] stay strong.’’
Chapman starts with the heaviest ball and works down. As the arm fatigues Chapman works on his location.
Being new to the Yankees last spring, Chapman didn’t bring the multi-colored balls to camp because he didn’t know if there would be an issue with the routine. But he says the balls have been part of his program since he was with the Reds.
Alex Rodriguez is expected to arrive in camp sometime next week and join the other guest instructors.
“He will do what everybody else does,’’ Cashman said of Rodriguez, whom the Yankees are paying $21 million after releasing him last season. “When he comes in [bench coach] Rob Thomson and Joe Girardi will tell him where and what [to do].’’
Opening Day starter Masahiro Tanaka threw off a bullpen mound Thursday.
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